I have a 73 hiboy. 4 speed, no ac no pb. It has a 390 I converted to electronic ignition.I pulled the wiring harness from a 73-75 2 wd auto. It had ac, pb & ps. Everything crossed over fine. it also had a 360/390 that someone converted to ei as well. When I rev the motor the dash lights, in cab light, and headlights all get brighter. And when the motor holds a steady rpm between 1500 to 2500. I notice the headlights have a noticeable flicker. Just a change in intensity not an on/off flicker. Also my battery is reading 14.5 to 14.8 volts with the motor running, no matter what rpm its at. Any chance I need a new voltage regulator? Any tests I can run to check the harness or particular electrical parts?

 

It's the old points style voltage regulator. Use a solid state regulator from like, a 1983 ranger. Bolts/plugs in place of the old reg, stable output.

 

Most of the voltage regulators you buy from the parts strore are electronic as well, it's getting harder to find the old points driven style.

If you're getting 14+ volts at idle that is pretty darn good with the old Ford 1G alternator.

Josh

 

Ok, il update my regulator, figured it might be that. Not sure if the alternator is stock or original. It looks like it could be however the previous owner had some big plans to make this a show truck so he might of got a beefier alternator

 

Try cleaning all your power onnections,ground connections and parts mounting spots.

Once the clean surfaces are secure you can better determine a part's condition,

Hidden Corrosion is bugger and a main contributor to electrical problems

 

Ok sounds good! Ill grab an updated voltage regulator as well, couldn't hurt.

 

The most common problem that causes lights to change with RPM is the engine to body ground... make sure it's clean and secure.

 

Normally VR's don't "cut in" until about 900 RPM which leaves electrical systems with less power than needed during idle

 

Wrong again. The voltage regulator constantly monitors the electrical system's voltage independent of RPM. If the voltage regulator was inactive under 900 RPM, then there would be no way for the electrical system voltage to stay around 13 to 14 volts at idle. Even though the voltage is typically lower at idle, it's still regulated - meaning it's constant, regardless if it's resting at less than nominal. Now, it's correct to say that low-amperage alternators have trouble producing satisfactory output at low RPM's, but that's a function of the alternator and not the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator has no sense of RPM.

I still do not understand what compels you to give electrical advice.

 

Your misinterpretation.

Your terminology vs mine

we say the same thing, different ways

 

I'm sorry, but we do not say the same thing. If you have little to no experience in automotive electrical systems in general (as you clearly demonstrate in many of your posts), you're not in a position to say what's the same and what's different.

Your posts consist of three things: (1) regurgitating something that myself or someone else has said to make yourself look like you know what you're talking about, (2) telling people to go to other websites, or (3) blatantly wrong information. Your nonsense is jeopardizing the quality of resources and information that FTE has become known for.

 

But there YOU are tailgating me at every letter.
No one else is ..Just YOU !

 

# The battery of the car stores the energy, and provides energy to the parts of the car that need it, such as the air conditioning, the radio, and most of all, the spark plugs. It is necessary, however, to ensure that the battery receives the correct amount of voltage. If the battery receives the wrong level of voltage, it can damage the battery, or the other electric components of the car. The correct level of voltage is set and maintained by the voltage regulator.
# The voltage regulator of a car could be one of two types. The grounded voltage regulator regulates the amount of negative ground that goes into the rotor, while the grounded field voltage regulator controls the amount of positive ground that goes into the rotor. Both actions change the amount of direct current created by the alternator, which increases or decreases the amount of current provided to the battery as necessary to keep the amount of current within safe levels.


I mentioned a grounding problem earlier as a cause of the problem

I mentioned corrsosion on connections earlier as a cause of the problem

Batteries can be the cause ..

BUT until one secures all connections, the problem will look gone when the RPM is increased because of what the VR does.

Why didn't you tailgate me then ?

 

You copied that word-for-word off of eHow.com. This is a waste of time.

 

Who cares, it still says the same thing I did.