Ok so both my Generator and regulator are less than a year old. I have had no issues up until my 275 mile trip to the Relix Riot over the weekend. Now prior to this trip I had about 20 highway miles on the car, as I mostly stay on city street and back roads. I also replaced what I think was a faulty headlight switch due to the headlights flashing after about 10 minutes of driving before my trip. Got on the road early Saturday and had zero issues until I got off the freeway after a couple hours. I noticed as I slowed down my generator light started to glow, as I sped up it would go off until I was slowing down again. Checked the belt at the show and it's tight. My battery puts out 12.75 volts and increases to 13.9 / 14 when I give the car gas...but it drops as soon as I get off the throttle. I spoke with someone that said when the car is running there should not be a drop in juice if the system is good. I pulled the negative cable and the car died...the same person told me that means I have an issue in my charging system. I sure wish there was a simple way to install am alternator on a early FE...my F100 never gives me these kinds of electrical troubles.
It's normal for a generator light to come on at a slow idle, but if it's on when you're driving, then something is wrong. An alternator will usually keep up at low speeds, but generators don't. Since there was a change in how it works, there's probably something wrong. How long since the generator has been rebuilt? What do you have for a voltage regulator? is the wiring all in good condition?
There is an easy way, an internally regulated chevy alternator.Run a thick Guage wire from the + batt terminal to the large positive lug on the back of the alternator and a small jumper from to that lug to the #2 terminal on the side.fire the car up, Rev it to 100 rpm to prime the system and your charging. Can run a Guage off the #1 terminal Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
New voltage regulator and generator bought at my local oreilys. Just weird out of nowhere this {}]%{## starts happening
Many rebuilds are not really rebuilt- often they only replace whatever was bad, leaving the rest of the unit with just as much wear as whatever failed. I would not trust a rebuild from autozone/pepboys/etc.
Has your idle dropped? As stated before, alternators can keep up at low rpm but not generators. Even a 50 rpm drop may be enough to start the light glowing. Put a quality gauge on the battery and check at idle to see if you really need to worry. My guess is that your idle decreases when you get up to temp.
The strange thing is the car has been more of a haul the family to dinner and family party's along surface streets. It's odd that the issue shows up after a few hours of highway time.
My 56 Caddy does that too. I just turned the idle up just a little. But if it dies when you remove the cable then something's not right.
Maybe 1000 RPM will do it, and I would like to hear an explanation of how you'd run a gauge from the #1 terminal.
New electronic parts that arent working correctly from Oriellys, I'd start there. Ive had a few bad alternators right out of the box. I now use a local shop for all starter alts, and gens. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
if I remember right it has been along time since I worked on a generator but a generator will not produce enough juice to keep the engine running with the cable disconnected. but since you disconnected the batt you need to repolarize the gen tom
once done, done. if needed, to polarize generator=with engine off - at regulator remove the field (F) wire and briefly touch it to the battery (B) connection - if surrounding lighting not too bright, should see a small bluish spark-reconnect field (F) wire - done.
You can either use the regular alt brackets from a later 60's car/truck with a Ford external reg alt: Or you can use the early T Bird brackets (65/66?) and mount a GM 10si lower like I did on my '54 panel.
Generators do not put out above battery voltage at low speed so it is NORMAL to get a reading of only battery voltage and than an increase when you rev it a bit. Your friend was incorrect.
If it dies with the negative battery terminal taken off, it is not charging. Re-polarize it, swap in a known-to-be-good battery and see if that makes a difference. But I would surely look into installing an alternator on it. I'm doing a GM on my Ford with an internal regulator.
I've seen this happen on my generator equpped vehicles also. If you have a stock style regulator, it's pretty much normal. A stock style regulator has a series of bi-metal switches inside that react to heat in order to regulate voltage, this makes them susceptible to outside heat. When you travel a long distance at highway speed, heat builds up in the engine compartment and in the regulator, which can cause this phenomenon. Once everything has cooled down, operation should return to normal. The fix for this is to get a regulator that uses a pc board inside to regulate voltage. I bought two from Rock Auto for my two generator equpped '59 Chevys. Outwardly, they look identical to the stock regulator and I now have much more consitant charging in both machines.
we were at Relix too! our 61 caddy will do this if i put car in reverese or the idle gets to low... i found a lose ground strap and bumped the idle up to 800 rpm and its gone
I would check the regulator and generator since you already checked the belt, even if they are only a year old, they could have problems and its best to check everything to be sure. Converting over to an alternator is pretty straight forward. I made brackets from scratch to mount a Ford 3G alternator to my buddies 390 FE.
Well I think I jacked up the system when I pulled the negative cable while running! It was charging to 14 when given the gas..... Not anymore.....
First off, get yourself a manual. Then, stop listening to friends who do not know what they are talking about. The information about charging is in your owner's manual, where it will state that the situation you describe is perfectly normal. How to recognize friends who do not know which way is 'up' - their lips are moving. Generators do NOT charge well at idle, and idle on early cars should be in the 450-600 rpm range in most cases. Again, consult a Manual, NOT some homeless dude on the street. Raising the idle simply to cause a generator to charge at idle is to do a few things at once: Waste fuel with more rpm when it is not needed; Load the brakes and (auto) trans more than is necessary; Misunderstand the whole charging thing entirely. Sure, a generator doesn't charge well at idle, so what?? How many times have you driven to Grandma's house at 750 rpm?? Disconnecting a battery cable is caveman tech that does not even work that well. Since generators do not charge well at idle, it is meaningless in such cases; and since it will cause an alternator to put out such voltage as to overheat it and do possible damage, it can also be damaging (yeah, I know you've done it for years; doesn't make it right). A voltmeter is by far a better approach. And much, much more accurate as well. Oh, look, here's a manual for $15... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-1957-M...ion-/321497228130?hash=item4adaba6362&vxp=mtr Cosmo
The Jalopy Journal
