How do I know if the generator on my 223 in my 59 f100 is 30 amp or 40 amp?

 

Is there a tag or part # on the generator? What voltage regulator is installed? Course after 50 years a lot can have been swapped out.

 

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I'll need to inspect it over. There's years of dirt all over it.

 

I'd expect it is almost certainly a 30 amp generator unless there's strong reason to indicate otherwise. I don't believe there's any practical difference in terms of say for example brush replacement - the most common routine.

 

So can you explain a little better what your plan is, or if there is a fault in the charging system?

 

Don't know if there's a fault yet. You see, I just got the truck earlier this year and have been parts gathering and doing my homework on it. I've been going through the parts books and noticed that there are different amperages for the generator and I wanted to know if anyone out there could give some hints on what to look for when I try and bring ol Mean Green back to life.

 

Cool! More pics pliz.... For diagnostic purposes *cough*

Ah OK, tracking now...

Big thing in electrical is corrosion/rust. Starting, ignition, lights and charging systems do not like any resistance at all in the cables, grounds or connection points, firewall block connectors etc. Even invisible corrosion is enough to seriously hork electron flow. Then it's hard charging, hard starting, dim lights, thick smoke, and everything in between roasts, like switches, solenoids, regulators.

If it were me I'd pull the generator and go through it in terms of new brushes and clean the commutator. Probably same with starter. Generator itself grounds through the brackets and conn. hardware to the engine block. Grind the boss down to bright shiny metal.

Run a point file across and dress the contact points on the voltage regulator. Maybe you know all this already. Generators setup right work well except, in heavy stop and go driving at night or extensive idling, that kind of thing. Unlike alternators they don't really do any charging at slow idle RPM, so a larger, heavier battery with plenty of reserve capacity is best. CCA isn't the only thing to look at.

 

Thanks for the tips! Definitely will keep those troubleshooting tech info on hand. I have a shop manual and it reads many troubleshooting techniques too and general maintenance. As of right now, I moved into a new home and will be building a shop so my 59 is stored elsewhere for the time being. As soon as I can start regularly working on it, I'll figure out for sure what amp it is. Thanks for all the inputs!

 

Great pics! Thanks. Some work ahead of you I see, but it will be a great truck I can tell. "Texas Truck" fir sure. My old beast is rough as a cob but the electrical connections aren't. Rough trucks are like Theft insurance! Add in three on the tree, forget it. Don't need to worry about door dings either. People park away from you. What's not to like?

New 00 cables to starter and solenoid, block to frame, block to firewall etc. Any ground point or SAE wire connector, block connector etc, gets a wire brush and kerosene treatment. Clean tight shiny connections = Happy Electrons. Coat exposed grounds with vaseline or NO-OX.

Generators are a little cantankerous after 50 or 60 years - a lot of people of course replace them with alternators. I'm stubborn in the sense I like to make stuff work, see how it worked and understand how things were done before semiconductors etc. The manual is your friend here, because nobody is going to be able to help you with a generator at Autozone. Generators are super simple though. Just remember no charging system can cope with corrosion or resistance, alternators choke too. For example just 0.06 ohms resistance in the wiring or grounds - six hundredths of a single ohm - hardly anything - will reduce alternator current output by 30%! I'm sure generators are exactly the same. At some point Ford ran an extra ground wire from generator direct to voltage regulator, so they are at the same ground potential.

If you see the GEN light illuminated with engine OFF, disconnect battery right away. The cutout relay is supposed to disconnect the battery whenever generator output falls below battery voltage. If it sticks, the battery will backfeed into the generator and smoke the pole shoe windings, or even motor the engine.

 

Excellent info! Thanks! When I first got Mean Green. I knew it would be a job. But that's the fun, right? It was missing the steering column, radiator, gas tank, misc dash parts, all of which I manage to find since last December. It has the original 223 and 3 speed transmission too. I used to own a 69 F100 with a 240 3 on the tree and I LOVED it! Too bad it lost its life in an accident back in 2000. I miss that truck! When I seen that ol Green here had a straight 6, I fell that much deeper in love with it. I found another 3 on the tree column and like you wrote, most would be thieves stay away because they don't know how to shift a 3. Mean Green will stay all stock from top to bottom with the exception of some nice Detroit Steelie wheels and a clear coat over the patina green. I can't wait to drive it!

 

 

Nice! Thanks!