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my 1973 f100 v8 360 has been having charging problems, so, of course, i went ahead and replaced everything: alternator, regulator, and, of course, it didn't solve the problem. i'm pretty sure i've chased down all the grounds and they are good. so the next thing i did was ohm all of the connections between the regulator, battery and alternator, and they are all good except there does not appear to be a direct connection between the stator on the alternator and the "s" connection on the regulator. the stator lead from the alternator is a white/black wire that goes directly to the automatic choke and nowhere else. i've attached the schematic for my truck and this seems ok...ish, because it appears that because my truck has an ammeter in the cluster, the "s" connection appears to go there, but i have removed the wire harness and don't see anywhere that lead returns to the stator lead on the alternator. clear as mud?
if my problem is obvious to someone, please help! thanks, and all best,
The stator wire only runs from the alternator to the choke. Did you verify the basics? Make sure you have have power on the green/red wire with ignition on. To test the alternator you can apply direct battery power momentarily to the field wire and battery voltage will go up.
thanks for clearing this up! of course, it only deepens the mystery for me of why there is an "s" connection on the voltage regulator.
the only basics i did other than check the continuity of the harness is check the voltage at the battery when the engine was running and it was only around 12.5 so figured wasn't getting anything back from the alternator. and, as i said, i checked all the grounds both physically and with a voltmeter.
i will do the tests you recommend, when i get everything put back together and report back. forgive my ignorance, but how does one apply direct voltage to the field wire? just run a direct lead from the battery?
Don't take the voltage regulator at face value. There is multiple ways to wire them. It all depends on if you had a gauve or idiot light. Just use a jumper wire to apply power to the field wiring (with VR disconnected).
hey, have another, possibly stupid, related question: is it still possible for the fusible link to the relay in this wire harness to be bad even if my meter shows continuity?
hey, have another, possibly stupid, related question: is it still possible for the fusible link to the relay in this wire harness to be bad even if my meter shows continuity?
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