could someone please tell me how i can test a voltage regulator.
has 4 prong labeled from left to right I,A,S,F.
i presume i should be able to ground case to battery neg,
provide power to A and I to get voltage from F. or
provide power to A and S to get voltage from F. Either case voltage from F should stop when power is removed from I or S.
am i correct in this?

 

bumpbump

 

ANYONE GOT ANY IDEA?

 

Welcome to FTE!

What we're really ultimately doing is testing whether the battery is charging, right?

Assuming the battery is good, check to see if the alternator is OK. If Batt and Alt are OK, the regulator is the culprit. Now is a good time to clean connectors and connections, and replace main cables. Alternators "see" high resistance as a battery that needs charging. Here are some checks to run with your multimeter:

http://www.aa1car.com/library/charging_checks.htm

 

Any auto parts store should be able to test the regulator if you take it in.

 

1963/64 Thunderbird, 1965/81 FoMoCo vehicles all came with a points style alternator regulator. Has a tall cover painted either black of blue and if you have this type, look on the cover for dents.

The points were notorious for sticking and when this occurred, people rapped on the cover with their knuckles, screw driver handles, etc. in an effort to unstick the points.

1982: Ford replaced the points style regulator with an electronic solid state regulator that has a nearly flat aluminum cover with MOTORCRAFT embossed on the diagonal.

The original 1963/81 alternator/regulator wiring harness...plugs into the electronic regulator, no mods are necessary.

 

It sounds like he wants to know the method that the parts store would use, so he can test it himself. Maybe he has like 20 of them to test...