okay, don't flame me too bad, i've tried other sites to no avail, and i've always managed to find an answer here at FTE:
my 1978 lincoln continental will not charge (its as long as my truck, does that count?) i've replaced the battery, the alternator, the voltage regulator, the positive battery cable, exciter wire, and the cable ends. i had the new alternator, and the new battery checked. still, the battery won't charge. the car has a factory bone stock 460, c6, and a 100 amp alternator (factory correct for a car with these options). the problem started about two months ago, with the battery slowly going dead. it was getting a low charge when we checked it at the auto parts store, and we agreed it was likely the alternator. replaced the alternator, and external voltage regulator. checked continuity of all associated wires and had 0 resistance. the battery was replaced when i bought the car back in june, and it tested fine as well.
the problem continued to worsen.
yesterday, i replaced the cable ends and the exciter wire (ran a second wire from alternator directly to battery terminal). with all accessories off it was reading 54 amps at 2k RPM. with low beams and heater on high it was DRAWING 9 amps from the battery at idle.
today, on a short drive with lights off and heater on low it drained the battery in like 20 minutes, to the point the car sputtered if i tried to turn the lights on.

what could be causing this. i've searched wires, grounds seem good, no abnormal electronics, even still has factory radio.
with all the accessories off and it still draining the battery, could it be the coil going bad, drawing that much power?
please help! i know its not TECHNICALLY a truck, but at least its a FoMoCo product... and huge...

 

Have you checked for voltage coming from each of the respective terminals? Are there good connections at the regulator? What about the sensing wire?

 

the connections at the regulator are good. there was no corrosion on the old wires but i gave them a light buff with some fine steel wool and recoated with dielectric grease. i'm not sure what you mean by "from each of the respective terminals." the battery gets a full charge when i put it on the charger. i don't have an ammeter to test the voltage coming straight off the alternator. which sensing wire?

 

UPDATE:
went back outside, put the charger on the batter for about half an hour. went out again, started the car up. pulled every fuse from under the dash. my theory being that way i could find out if it was something fused that had gone bad that was draining the battery with an unusually high draw, or something else. pulled all the fuses, turned on the headlights on high beam (they weren't fused, which i found odd, either the fuse is somewhere else, or they're relayed), and left it sit for 20 minutes. when i came back out the headlights were all but out. i turned them off, replaced the fuses (since that obviously wasn't the issue now) and when i turned the lights back on, the battery had so little power the car died (lack of spark would be my guess).
I'm still at a loss. the registration for my new truck hasn't arrived yet so i can't drive that, so i'm stuck making this work until then. i'm heading back out to search for an other abnormalities.

 

You should drive the car with a voltmeter connected to the fuse box.

When the voltage is around 14 volts the ALT is providing the needed output.

If the voltage is 12 volts, the ALT is not providing the required output.

When you pulled the fuses with the car running you might have disabled (turned off) the ALT.

Jim

 

You definitely need a voltmeter for this. Make sure you have 12 volts going to excite the alternator from the ignition.

 

went back out doing more wire searching. i have a multimeter, it reads in volts, it just doesn't have the capacity to measure enough amps to determine the amperage output of the alternator. searching for wires i discovered this



the broken wire is the white wire off of the duraspark box. it knocked loose when my sleeve brushed against it while i was reaching down trying to check the wires into the fuse box. in my duraspark box the order of the wires are orange, purple, green, black, white, red. so the broken wire is the next to last wire on the connection. i posted more pictures in my "random" gallery.

could this broken wire be the cause of the alternator not charging? which wire is the "exciter"?

 

patched the broken wire, only soldered the on connection, left the other one as it was, seemed like a solid connection. took the battery off the charger, it read 12V. started the car, it read 13V. i'm gonna do my "light test" and see if it keeps a charge. i only have an analog multimeter, i blew my old digital and haven't replaced it yet, so i can't detect minor loss in current, so it takes a while for me to figure out if i'm getting a charge or not. i'll update again as soon as i figure out if that fixed it, or if anyone else comes up with any other ideas in the mean time.

UPDATE:
with the high beams on, and the heater on high, i was getting about 12.25-12.5 V at the battery. thats .5-.75 drop from all accessories off, but a little higher than the battery sitting.

 

[quote=

could this broken wire be the cause of the alternator not charging? which wire is the "exciter"?[/quote]

NO on the broken white wire causing the trouble.

The white wire only has power when the key is in the START position.
It is an input to the Duraspark IGN module used to retart the timing while cranking.... bottom line is you really dont need it.

The ALT needs power from the battery to start producing power, once it is on-line, it does not need to be "excited" again.
The ALT is on-line once the voltage is 14 volts, or anything higher than Battery voltage was, prior to starting the car.

Do you know what type of ALT you have?? Is it a 2G ALT?

Jim

 

i believe it is a 2G alt. factory alt ford used in the late 70's through the early 80's. i purchased it from advance, its part number P7705.

 

[quote=

UPDATE:
with the high beams on, and the heater on high, i was getting about 12.25-12.5 V at the battery. thats .5-.75 drop from all accessories off, but a little higher than the battery sitting.[/quote]

If it is higher than what the battery voltage was, it is charging, but it should be about 2 volts higher, like say 14 volts to be working properly.

A 2G ALT has an internal voltage regulator... do you have an external voltage regulator?

"replaced the alternator, and external voltage regulator"
seems to me this should have fixed it from the get go.

Jim

 

it is externally regulated. here is what the alternator looks like


the yellow wire was an addition at the recommendation of another local wrench who thought the charging wire may have been the culprit. this is how it connects to the battery



the alternator and voltage regulator are both new. unless i got a lemon voltage regulator. i can try replacing the old voltage regulator, but i don't know how to check it to find out if it is functioning.

when i went back out about 15 minutes later, the heater and headlights had drained the battery to the point i could no longer see the dash gauges. so it was not charging the battery. which wire is the exciter wire?

 

I am not really sure which would be consider the "exiciter wire".

But once the ALT is on-line it has been excited by the battery

It looks like you have a 1G ALT, I have a 2G so I am not up to speed on the 1G ALT.
Do you have an Charge light or an amp meter?

Jim

 

i have an analog multimeter. it can read voltage, resistance, and amperage up to 500mA. i took a hint from ford muscle ( Defective voltage regulator? - FordMuscle.com Forums ) and jumped the voltage regulator. i noticed a perceivable drop in RPMs. voltage jumped up about 1 volt. still only at about 13 volts. i swapped on the old regulator and grounded it up against the negative battery terminal. voltage again read 13.
I turned on the lights and heater, dropped to about 12.

keep in mind this is an older analog multimeter, so while the difference is probably accurate, the reading itself may not be. i know that the resistance reading is not correct, so the others may be wrong also. i need a new multimeter.

I'll go back out and check it again here in another few minutes. see how the lights are doing and check the cross terminal voltage again.

 

UPDATE:
After about 15 minutes of run time the lights were again quickly dimming. i have to work in the morning, so i'm calling it quits tonight and gonna drive to work with a spare battery. and a battery charger. i'm still at a loss. do any of the chain stores check voltage regulators? could it be the wiring going to the regulator? i'm still looking for suggestions, its back to working on it tomorrow. the sooner i finish this, the sooner i can play with my new bronco...