OK gents,

I have gone through my wiring harness and found out that the alt excitor wire from my fuse panel is not hooked up to anything...now the problem i face is that I am using the original volt regulator block (6V) for everything...took my alternator to Autozone and it is fine...recharged the battery and I am only getting about 11.5 volts when running...now my buddy told me to change the volt regulator in the truck but that is a bigger problem...the EZ wire harness I am using says to use the a four link regulator but i am using the original...when i take off the positive cable from the battery, she cuts off. Don't the truck suppose to be running off the alternator even though it is not hooked up to the battery positive? My buddy told me that he could do this when he had his Mercury Cougar so could that mean the voltage regulator is the problem? What type of volt regulator should I buy for a 1977 Lincoln Versailles 302 with MSD 6A hooked up? Also, what does the alt excitor wire do? And if you wanted to know, I am using original motorcraft alternator with ST, Bat, F, Grd connections.....confused and need HELP PLEASE!!!!!!


James

 

James,

Do I understand correctly that you are trying to use a 55 6V regulator in a 12V charging system? If so, that won't work. Are you using an alternator from the 77 Lincoln? If so, you need a regulator to match the alternator from that same vehicle. If that's not the alternator you have, then I think what you may need is a 12V regulator from a mid 60's Ford (something like for a 65 Mustang should work). The terminals will be marked 1, A, S, and F.

The regulator and excitor can be eliminated if you want to go with a newer one-wire alternator, but if you stick with the older Ford alternator, the excitor wire is necessary to make your alternator charge.

See my gallery for a wiring diagram of a mid 60s Ford charging system. Hope this helps...

 

Thanks for the information.....only thing i ask is where does the alt excitor wire hooks up too...i don't know where and it has a lead from the fuse panel but runs to what???? HELP!!!!!!!

James

 

James,

I was afraid you were going to ask me that. I hesitate to give you a definitive answer because I do not want to get you into any more trouble than you already are. My memory has become very swiss-cheezy lately and it has been a few years since I worked with this particular wiring system. I remember going round and round with the charging system on my 65 Mustang with much the same problem. The alternator worked fine, the regular worked fine, but the system would not charge no matter what. I think (and I emphasize "think") that what I had to do was run a wire from the "on" side of the ignition switch to the number one terminal on the voltage regulator. In my case that wire had been cut off somewhere in the harness after it left the switch and before it got to the regulator.

PLEASE DO NOT MAKE THIS CONNECTION UNTIL YOU CAN VERIFY WITH SOMEONE ELSE THAT THIS IS CORRECT!



I'm sure there are some electrical gurus here that can verify this connection. I wish my memory was better. I would hate to be responsible for burning up your alternator, voltage regulator or your truck! If I am correct, in your case running the wire from the fuse panel should be okay, but if you are running the excitor wire from the fuse panel, be sure that the wire is powered only when the switch is in the "on" position. You do not want a constant 12 volts feeding the voltage regulator when the switch is off. This could result in burning up the regulator, draining the battery, or causing a fire...

 

alrighty then.....

here we go for round three...ding ding...let's say i buy the one wire alternator for the truck....where does the alt excitor wire connects to then??? a one wire alternator connection came with my wiring harenss but it has alt power and alt excitor on it...so the question remains where do you go from the alternator to what now???? maybe the started solenoid???

James


PS - what would be the BEST solution for all of this!!!?!???!?

 

James,

Personally I like the one-wire alternators and they do eliminate most of the charging circuit wiring since all they do is run a single wire from the Bat terminal on the alternator back to the battery (back to the battery can be through a starter solenoid post). You have no regulator and no excitor wire because one-wire alternators are self-exciting. The only drawback I know of is that they require reving the engine rpms initially to 1000-1200 rpms or so to get them started charging. If your harness came with an alternator excitor wire and a one-wire alternator connection, it was probably designed for either a one-wire or a three wire alternator. If you put a one-wire on it, the excitor wire would be eliminated.

As far as what may be the best solution...only you can answer that. I'm a cheapskate and would never consider paying $75-$100 for a one-wire when I have three perfectly good three wire alternators collecting dust in my garage...but then, I'm not the one having the wiring woes either...

 

55FordLover -

A good resource you might want to consider:

"Basic Auto Electricity" for $7.95 from Watson's Streetworks at www.watsons-streetworks.com or 866.859.0513. Lot's of good information. Also good tech help.

Larry

 

Thank you Larry. I was beginning to feel all alone out there on that branch....

 

According to the info I have here is the alternator and voltage regulator hookup for a Ford:

From the voltage regulator the electrical connections are marked-

1- to ignition switch or coil resistor
A- to alternator (BAT) connection
S- to alternator (STA) connection
F- to alternator (FIELD) connection

Hope this helps.

Larry

 

James,

Another thought occurred to me. You can convert your three wire alternator to a one-wire with a kit from Sacramento Ford (about $38) and others. That might save you a few bucks...

 

Okay,

Once I do this i would not need the voltage regulator anymore right????

James

 

James,

That's right! You can throw it in the trash...

 

Gents and some Ladies of the forum....

Went to Autozone and got a 1977 Lincoln Versailles voltage regulator....yeah it was a pain in the but going through the wiring harness but found the culprit.....the excitor was not connected and I guess the shop didn't know where to put it..so i hooked everything up (thanks to the replies to this message)...followed the guidelines and now I have alternating power for the battery...no battery drain....actually now the voltmeter reads about 13-13.5 volts when running...before she was under 12 and slowly going down from there...I really like to thank everyone who responded to my help message here...like i told some people before...there is nothing like a FORD family....also off the subject....

I got a friend of mines to buy a 1966 Ford truck with a 302/4 spd...he paid $700 bucks for the thing and it runs perfect...just painted about 3yrs ago also...he got a steal but that body style doesn't do it for me at all....fat fender man here!!!!!!



James
1954 Ford F100 302/AOD
2001 Ford F150 SC 5.4L/AOD
2003 Mazda Tribute 4 cyl/5spd (hers)

If aint FORD, why buy it or drive it!!!!!!!!!!!! (Mazda is a distant cousin) :-)

 

So where did you end up running the wire to and from to excite the alternator to charge?

 

To the diagam provided by someone's gallery....i went from 3 hookups to four with the new voltage regulator...

James

To the "A" of the new one....