Here's the skinny. I put a new alternator in tonight thinking it was the solution to the no-charge problems. Seems I was wrong. It's still the same. I ran through every test in my Chilton manual and it all pointed to the alternator. So I ran more tests tonight after the new alternator and all of the readings looked the same. Changed voltage regulators too ... same results. Did the thing with taking off the negative cable from the battery and checking for current from the positive terminal and nothing with a test light, 0.11V with a multimeter. Battery reads 12.61V, just above the "12.6V or alternator death will occur" warning on the safety sheet that came with the new alternator. That's a direct quote there. I even topped up the acid in the battery with distilled water and have it charging as I type. It was over 80% charged already though. If this dosen't fix the problem, does anyone have ANY other suggestions?? I'm ready to burn the truck!

Chris Pollard
Dryden, ON
Don't mind me, I'm crazy.
:-X11

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 04-Jun-02 AT 00:16 AM (EST)]Did you while the engine was running :
Attach a multi-meter to the battery terminals and check for the IDLE power then rev it up and check for ABOVE IDLE power.
With no accessories on(heater,wipers or headlights)you should have about 11.8-12V When you rev it up > It should kick-up tp about 14.8-15.2V
Now, Turn on the Heater motor > Then > the Headlights
and see if the voltage changes.

If not, there is a problem.


Time to check the Voltage regulator's connections & ground.
Here is a charging trouble-shooting page

http://www.forparts.com/techdensoalternatortips.htm

[font color=red]Dennis

Calgary,Alberta,Canada[/font]
[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|FTEModerator]

http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Minimorleytruck.JPG

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[font color=red]
Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions,
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's" [/font]

[font color=blue]78 F-150 429CJ,Silver,Explorer Pkg.
[/font]

 

Haven't tried checking the voltage when revving the engine, just at idle. (It's hard to get in the cab and push the gas when I'm under the hood.) So I'll have to get my wife to give me a hand at lunch today and check that out. It runs around 12.3v at idle on a fully charged battery with nothing running. Thanks for the tip! (I hope it works!!)

Chris Pollard
Dryden, ON
Don't mind me, I'm crazy.
:-X11

 

Use alligator clips to hold the M/M probes tot he batery posts.
Remove the air cleaner housing and use your hand to move the throttle at the carb .
Otherwise, YES get your wife involved.


[font color=red]Dennis

Calgary,Alberta,Canada[/font]
[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|FTEModerator]

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http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Mil1ion.html

[font color=red]
Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions,
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's" [/font]

[font color=blue]78 F-150 429CJ,Silver,Explorer Pkg.
[/font]

 

Well, I figured out how to set it all up on my own to do the test ... and from 12.55v running, no accessories, I punched the throttle and held it a bit open. It dropped to 12.54v for about a quarter second and leveled back off at 12.55 again. I'm going to buy a new voltage regulator tonight and try that in case the new spare I had went bad in storage over the last year. But if that doesn't fix the problem, I think I'm gonna lose it. After all the trouble it's given me so far this spring with the melting wires that I fixed (it's on a post here somewhere ... some idiot at some point did a little re-wiring and I had to correct that) and everything else, I am just about ready to put it up for sale and be happy with the 6mpg wonder that is my car.

Chris Pollard
... frustrated as #%!! in Dryden, ON
Don't mind me, I'm crazy.
:-X11

 

Actually ,you don't have to punch it.
Just a gradual increase to watch for Voltage Reg "KICK IN".

What happened when you put one of the power drainers on?


[font color=red]Dennis

Calgary,Alberta,Canada[/font]
[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|FTEModerator]

http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Minimorleytruck.JPG

http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Mil1ion.html

[font color=red]
Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions,
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's" [/font]

[font color=blue]78 F-150 429CJ,Silver,Explorer Pkg.
[/font]

 

Well, things are looking up. Bought a new voltage regulator, put it in, and presto - we have 14.05V in the battery. Now, here's my new question. The voltmeter on the dash now actually moves, which I'm not used to! When I start the truck, it starts from almost bottomed out, then climbs up to the middle. While it's doing this, if I punch the gas a little, the engine hesitates. Is this normal, or is it just a temporary thing since the battery wasn't 100% charged to start with? And how much movement should there be in the voltage guage? With brakes on and signal light flashing, it twitches between a quarter and 3/8ths to the discharge side. But with the multimeter on the battery and this all happening, it still reads a steady 14.x volts. Is there still something weird going on, or is it just because I'm not used to seeing this?

Chris Pollard
Dryden, ON
Don't mind me, I'm crazy.
:-X11

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 04-Jun-02 AT 10:15 PM (EST)]I'm pretty sure you have some slight grounding problems.

I think its time you cleaned all electrical connection relating to the charging system.

But First:
Check for a braided cable from the hood to the firewall and another from the back of the engine to the firewall.


Now, disconnect the battery and charge it with a real battery CHARGER while you clean off ALL the contacts one by one.

1)All the Voltage reg contacts
2)Plus where the VR mounts to the inner fender.
3)Clean the NEG battery cable to engine block

Right now I wouldn't worry about the gauge itself as they are known to go bad and NOT WORK AT ALL.

If I have a battery that is down from fullcharge> When I stsart it the gauge goes halfway from the center mark to the right side of the gauge.
When the gauge is at the center position the battery should be fully charged.
AT IDLE :Once you put a load on it the gauge will drop to discharge until you rev it up,then the VR kicks in and the gauge goes back up or to the center.
You will notice this the MOST on a cool rainy night when you have Heater,Wipers & Headlights on.

I hope this helps.
Did you have a look at the web page I added in my FIRST reply to you.

There's Good info there.

[font color=red]Dennis

Calgary,Alberta,Canada[/font]
[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|FTEModerator]

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[font color=red]
Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions,
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's" [/font]

[font color=blue]78 F-150 429CJ,Silver,Explorer Pkg.
[/font]

 

>But First:
>Check for a braided cable from the hood to the firewall and
>another from the back of the engine to the firewall.
>

Did that over a week ago. The line was there from the hood to firewall, but not engine to firewall. Made the guages read REALLY messed up until I replaced that cable.

>Now, disconnect the battery and charge it with a real
>battery CHARGER while you clean off ALL the contacts one by
>one.
>
>1)All the Voltage reg contacts
>2)Plus where the VR mounts to the inner fender.
>3)Clean the NEG battery cable to engine block

All have been done on more than one occasion now. (Including charging the battery with the charger)

>Right now I wouldn't worry about the gauge itself as they
>are known to go bad and NOT WORK AT ALL.

Yeah, apparently when the person I bought the truck from first got it, the guage worked backwards! It needed to be replaced and re-wired. I tried the best real test I could think of - in the dark, I turned on the headlights, which were nice and bright, then cranked the heater up full. The lights dimmed ever so slightly for the blink of an eye and then returned to their bright state again. So I could see that the VR was kicking in and keeping things going. A friend of mine has the same type of guage movement, and it's normal for them, so I'm not so worried. I think it's more a case of not actually having seen the guages work right in almost a year now and just not being sure if that's how they should be running. One day I'm just going to re-wire the whole bloody thing ... and fix the trailer connector that has the signal lights hooked up backwards!

>Did you have a look at the web page I added in my FIRST
>reply to you.

Yes I did. And short of some of the special tools mentioned in there, I'm pretty sure I've gone through EVERYTHING else. No stone was left unturned. Thanks again for all your help ... I'm just glad to have it working again!!

Chris.
:-X11

 

Update:

After a day of running around, lights blazing and all, I decided to check the battery voltage again to see if it is in fact holding it's charge now. It is! It tested at 13.50volts without the truck running ... and I know it reads over 14 with the engine idling. So the guage in the dash must just be dropping accordingly with each power draw. I can live with that! But now I have to find and fix a leak at the top part of my gas tank! I filled it to the top yesterday and later noticed it leaking by the filler until it got down a little. D'OH! One problem at a time I guess! (This truly is turning into Fixed Or Repaired Daily!! Gotta love a FORD!)

Chris Pollard
Dryden, ON
Don't mind me, I'm crazy.
:-X11