You mentioned something at the beginning of this thread: The alternator light is not coming on. If you mean that it does not light up when you turn the key to 'run' and leave the engine off, this might be your problem. the ALT light is part of the charging circuit and if it is burnt out your alternator will not 'turn on' and charge your battery. Replace the bulb and your alternator will suddenly start working again like magic.
Good point, Mark. I didn't even think about that since my car hasn't used the light bulb for over a decade (1-wire alternator).
I discovered this back in the early 90s when I was redoing the interior on my old '77 Maverick. For some reason I was running the the car without the instrument cluster installed and eventually it killed the battery because the alternator wasn't charging. Turns out the idiot light circuit is part of the 'exciter' circuit that makes the alternator start charging...
I got so fustrated with my recent wiring short and alternator not charging problem after I grounded the CD player better I got another wiring harness for the alternator still problems. Then I replaced all three fusible links ($3.99 NAPA) in that area everythings good now. You've got nothing to lose and it seems with these Mavericks Comets its always something weird and AutoZone and Checker part can sometimes suck.
Sounds alittle far fetched since my light didnt work for even befor i got the car. I just got mine working about a month ago. Granted my car is the frankenstin wiring car but.....
Maybe Ford changed the Maverick's charging circuit over the years. I dunno, I've never looked closely at any wiring diagrams to find out. Of course, I am talking about a factory alternator and regulator and wiring. 'Frankenstein' wiring might also include wires connected in such a way that made your alternator work in spite of the light not functioning. One wire alternators (not saying you have one...just mentioning it) are also different...and in fact most of the time they don't even have a provision for an idiot light. Anyone who has a factory alternator with external regulator can remove the ALT lightbulb to simulate a burnt out bulb and see what happens.
guys thanks for all your help and troubleshooting you have told me to do and enlightened me a lot about the electrical wiring of my maverick and once again out of a problem i know just about everything to check and do before i get the right answer and find the problem thanks but heres the update for you all still wondering i got a new battery, alternator, and regulator sunday then got called away from my baby to go work at a hay farm ( one of the toughest jobs ive ever had ) and didnt get off till late then school today- hay farm- and then back to school then i put all the new parts back on my maverick and then double checked all the grounds and the wires to make sure they were right and then hooked up the battery and then turned my key - alt light turned on and read 12 volts turned the car over started right up , alt light went away and the volts jumped right to 14 volts and stayed there so got i cut the engine and started it and shut it off a couple time just to make sure it kept coming back to 14v and it did got out and just checked the volts on the alt and the battery and get 14.3v on both and when the motor is off seems to stay at 12v i did a drain test with the light and didnt light up so no drain none of the wires were hot or anything so id say its fixed. ( my luck probably wont start tomorrow morning when i go out to work ) but seems to be good now. i guess either that alt or the regulator was dead before. thanks again for all your help
