The alt. is excited by the key in the start position. It charges through the large wire to the battery post on the solonoid. check the connections there.
Chunk the archaic Ford alternator and voltage regulator and go with a single wire alternator, Ford or GM style. I run GM alternators, one of the few things the General got right. You have to drill the mounting hole out a bit on a GM alternator to fit the Ford bolt, but other than that, it's a simple bolt on. Even a three wire GM is easier to wire up than the old Ford units. I think mine was listed for a 78 Camaro 350. One wire to the hot side of the solenoid is all it takes.
got a new voltage regulator but its too late and dark to install it. not sure if this could affect the charging system but when i installed my aftermarket radio i spliced into the yellow ignition wire, its not hooked up to a constant 12v wire just the ignition wire.
I just replaced the regulator and but the battery still wasn't charging, it just stayed around 12v. I connected the f terminal to the positive terminal and the battery started charging. I might have the voltage regulator wired up wrong, ive been looking at a wiring diagram of the entire car and it shows from top to bottom, i terminal, a terminal, s terminal and f terminal. the other wiring diagram is just of the charging system and shows top to bottom, f terminal, a terminal, s terminal and i terminal. not sure which one is right.
I "think" it goes F S A I from top to bottom, when installed like this. I actually don't know for sure, maybe someone can verify?
still nothing and now the dash lights are coming on even though they are turned off. I just disconnected the alt output from the starter solenoid and connected it to the positive battery terminal and it wasn't charging the battery.
Well it's apparent to me that you're going around in circles doing what you're doing, all the while apparently ignoring my simple suggestions. So good luck.
Im not ignoring your advice i checked the fusible link and there was no resistance so i didnt think there was a need to test the voltage. turns there is no voltage coming out of the fusible link, i will replacing it today.:Handshake
Ken, in answer to your previous post, the letters on the regulator plug are as follows. there are four pins with a space between one of the pins and the other three. I - ASF. Hang in there. You'll get this figured out! I do have one suggestion. I use a " test light" on this type wiring. The reason is that a voltmeter will draw virtually no current, so you can actually have a low resistance reading on a poor or almost severed connection! I made up a test light using a taillamp bulb, it's socket, some speaker wire, and 2 little alligator clips. I use the brighter of the 2 filaments in the bulb and not only is this easy to see, you have no doubt if a circuit is complete or not. This is only useful for checking wire continuity. If you are checking a circuit with a small dash light bulb in series with it, the test bulb won't light, but the indicator bulb in that circuit should.
I'd trash the stock stuff and go to an internally regulated alternator, like the Ford 3G or the Delco 12SI. I've been running a 12SI for years now and would never go back to the stock stuff.
