My 96 is acting up again. I have been working 7 days a week and usually late for a few months, so I can't even get the time to fix things right. I just duct tape things together and keep going. I had to replace my alternator a few months ago, and it fried the maxi fuse with it. It has the ambulance package. It has been working fine until last week. The amp light came on and the gauge (factory) shows it overcharging a bit and sometines not at all. It goes up to about 15.2. I used a meter. I pulled the alternator out in the middle of the night and took it to the place that rebuilt it when they opened. They tested it in front of me and it was fine. They said sometimes the plug goes bad and it causes the problem. So I replaced it and put it back in. The amp light is still on and it is still overcharging. My question is could it be one of the two wires on the plug causing the problem? One is yellow with a white stripe, and the other is green with a red stripe. I have no idea where they go. Or any other ideas. I am driving about an hour each way to the job and would hate to break down. Thanks for any help. The alternator is 215 amps.

 

With the high output alt you should have an external voltage regulator... not sure of the location on the van but that is what i would guess. the regular alts have it built into them, this is not true on the 215 amp alts. Should be your probelm, pick one up and throw it in

 

Thanks for the reply. The regulator on this one is internal. That is what went bad on it before, and that is what I also was thinking when I started having trouble. But when they tested it, it was working fine. They showed me while it was being tested that if the plug came loose it would still charge but would be high and low like it is doing. That is why I wanted to trace the 2 wires and see if that is the problem. But with a van it is almost impossible, so I am looking for a wiring diagram. Can't find one though.

 

Bob, I remember the last time you had trouble:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-question.html

Here's the schematic for your truck I think. The Light green w/Red tracer wire is going to the volt meter in the dash. Someone just recently had trouble with that wire getting loose causing an intermitant charge/discharge.

I see you have an additional Volt meter? Where did you tap that into?

Also, Did you check all the connections you see in the schematic? Batteries, starter, solenoid ect ect.

 

Hi Jim. I didn't know where the green wire went. The volt meter was just the hand held type. I will check all the connections and look at the dash gauge. Thanks, I'll report back.

 

Jim you get another A+. I finally had time to pull the dash apart and the wire going to the gauge was loose. Problem solved. This is still my busy season so I had to just drive with the amp light on until i had time to look at it. Thanks very much.

 

Thanks Bob, Glad you got it. the credit goes to FTE, I just read 'em. Remembering...that's different story. Crap shoot at best