Is that one jumper from left to right? Think I would sure as heck unclip that ASAP and see what changes. Sad to say, if that is how he got juice to the brake lights, you may have a lot of electrical gremlins to sort out. Hope you budgeted to buy Chilton's manual with electrical diagram.

 

Ill get some pictures of where they go,I'm not sure if the left clamp goes on the break or parking brake

 

This one is to the break and the other clip is connected to two brown wires that go to the light switch and the other brown wire pairs with the wires in electrical tape behind my gauges.

 

I've taken the alligator clip off and it didn't do anything, no increase or decrease of power I'm now changing all the electrical gremlins if anyone can send me a picture of how your alternator is hooked up please send me one.

 

Can you verify the colors of the three top wires in your pic?
And does your truck have an ammeter gauge, or just a charge indicator light? This makes a big difference in how the regulator is wired.

From the factory, the three wire colors and locations on the alternator are:
1. BAT = Black, or Black w/red stripe.
2. FLD = Orange
3. STA = White w/black stripe.

The BAT, or battery, is the main charge/output wire and goes straight to the starter relay at the cable.
The FLD, or field, runs straight from the alternator to the voltage regulator's F position.
The STA, or stator wire, is only used for the electric choke on the carburetor. But for the regulator, sometimes there is a White w/black stator wire (with dash light) or no stator wire at all (ammeter).

I see you have two potential grounds, which is good. The obvious braided strap on the one stud is one ground, as long as it's connected to something at the other side?
The little steel "ring" molded into the rubber strain relief there near the bottom of the pic is also attached to a small ground wire that runs up the harness and terminates at the voltage regulator's mounting screw. This one is pretty important to a good accurate charge system, so check it out to see if it's still there.

Looks kind of strange from here, and has been messed with obviously. So the things you have to do are:

1. Make sure that the Black w/red wire from the battery (starter relay post) is the one connected to the BAT terminal on the alternator.

2. Make sure that the Orange field wire from the voltage regulator is the one attached to the FLD post on the back of the alternator.

3. Make sure that the wire connected to the STA post on the back of the alternator is going where it should too.
Where that might be, depends on your answer about the dash indicator lamp or the ammeter.

Good luck.
Thanks for the pics.

Paul

 

Brake lights that don't work also have multiple possibilities. If your hazards or turn signals work, then you know the bulbs, sockets, grounds and main wires are good because they're the same circuits for the brake lights.

If you have power in to one side of the switch on the pedal, you can test for power coming out when you push the pedal. If none, replace the switch.
If you get power out, then you either have a defective wire or connection at the steering column, OR the turn signal switch is buggered.
Remember that the brake light circuit has to go through the turn signal switch so that the signals can work when the brake pedal is pressed.

Is your brake switch the type that is mounted to a post on the brake pedal and rod? Or is it a plunger type, where pushing the pedal pushes, or releases a plunger to activate the lights?
I've only personally seen the type that's the little square black thingy mounted at the pedal rod. But I've seen reference to the plunger type as well, so they might have found their way on to some trucks.

Good luck.

Paul

 

And one more thing about the alternator connections. Where we can see the wires attached to the alternator, are they original Ford, or have they been spliced? They look original as they're coming out of the rubber strain-relief, but with the tape and crimped on connectors I wasn't sure.

The question comes up that the largest diameter (gauge) wire there is usually supposed to be the BAT wire, but yours looks like it's attached to the FLD terminal. Is that correct? If so that would sure explain a lot.
Especially the heat and drained batteries....

Paul

 

The truck does have a ammeter, I've checked everything but the wire that goes FLD is yellow

The cable connected to the BAT is blue and the last cable that has a cap doesn't say where it is connected.

Another thing I have noticed is that the location of the BAT,FLD,and SAT on the new alternator are different from the original alternator that was on it,not sure if that matters but just a heads up.

 

Doesn't matter as long as the same wires go to the same marked posts. The FLD is always the FLD, no matter where the stud comes out of the case. The BAT is still the main charge wire, no matter where it comes out of the case.
Your colors are wrong for the most part, and they don't look consistent with what I know from size-vs-function either.
Since it's never worked in this configuration, there's nothing for it but to test each one end to end to make sure that it's going where it's supposed to.

At the regulator connector, look for the FSAI markings:

1. The F on the regulator needs to go to the FLD on the alt.
That's the only one with a connection to the alternator.
2. The S on the regulator is Green w/red and needs to be switched power from the key.
3. The A is Yellow and has battery power all the time.
4. The I is blank in our trucks with ammeters. There is no wire there.
Those are easy to test.

At the alternator:

1. The FLD was described above and goes straight to the regulator and does not touch anything else.
2. The BAT is the largest of the wires, is usually Black (sometimes with stripe, sometimes not) and on your truck should got straight to the battery post on the starter relay.
3. The STA goes straight to the carburetor's electric choke. It's not needed for the alternator to charge. It's only for the choke on our trucks.
4. Verify that the metal tab has a good ground wire running all the way up to the regulator's mounting screw. If not, make a new one.

If any of them don't match that description, fix it.

Paul

 

Ive taken all look at the cables to the alternator there is a big fat black wire,an orange wire,and a brown wire with a cap.

Someone as redone these wires before I'll send you a picture.
​

 

 

And do you happen to know what this is to the right of relay?

 

Yep. Another relay.
Looks like a horn relay from that vintage. The Yellow wire is a good indicator and should be present at the battery side of the big starter relay.
You can verify though, if the other two wires are Blue w/yellow and Yellow w/green.

Paul

 

That should be to the BAT terminal with the red insulator.
But verify that it runs up to the starter relay. You can do this with a volt-meter when the battery is connected, or an ohm-meter if you don't trust electricity!

That should go to the FLD post.
Also easy to verify with an ohm-meter that it's the same Orange wire as on the voltage regulator.

Might be faded (very faded!) white maybe? I hope so, because I'm pretty sure that the STA wire should be White with a black stripe.
But no matter. You can actually check it to find out. Or leave it off for now.

Yeah, I saw that in the earlier pic. It was obvious that not only were the ends re-done but they were even spliced to different color wires in some cases. Like what looks to be blue at the end of the orange wire.
If it comes down to it, since your wiring is obviously "distressed" to say the least, you can literally replace those wires very easily with new. New, one piece wires, rather than cobbled together.
And even though a good crimp is a very good way to connect, down at the alternator (or anywhere on the engine actually) I like to use solder and shrink wrap too. Just keeps moisture at bay for a longer time.

Good luck. But at least re-orient those wires and see what happens.

Paul

 

You are correct one yellow wire and the other two are blue w/yellow and yellow w/green.

Apologies for the wires being so faded the owner before me is the owner a construction company and used this truck as his work truck.