ok so i converted my 62 galaxie 500 from generator to one wire alternator...everything is great...all my other wires that were connected from the generator to the voltage regulator are just hanging from the regulator...what the hell do i do with them? can i just remove the regulator and wires? or will i lose all my electrical?
it just makes me nervous because there are like 8-10 wires coming from multiple places going to the regulator...and now the only wire going to the alternator is to the hot side of the starter solenoid
I don't know Ford's practice well enough to give a definitive answer, but on most GM products the regulator was used as a junction box of sorts. Some of those wires and the connections they represent could be important. If it were me I'd start by finding any wire that doesn't connect to anything and simply remove it. Then I'd consider buying a junction block of some sort and moving the remaining wires to it while removing the regulator. I'd want a Ford wiring diagram in my hand before I started...
When I was hunting for the right info for another thread I did this search. http://www.google.com/search?source...tnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= I think the info you want is there.
i was under the impression that going to one-wire was supposed to make things so much easier. guess i'm wrong on that.
Do some reading here to see if a 1 wire is really what you want... http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical-tech.shtml
You need to take the battery feed wire and the generator output wire at the regulator and splice them together so the alternator has a 12 volt supply and the current has a way back to charge the battery. The factory generator wire might not be large enough to handle the current of your new alternator. If you ran a new wire from the alternator to the battery positive terminal or the battery side of the starter solenoid then you don't need to worry about connecting the two wires together. Starting in 1965 on the alternator cars the regulator controlled the charging idiot light on the dash. I'm not sure about the earlier generator cars. If your car has an idiot light it probably will not work without the regulator or it might stay on all the time? Jerry
Ok thats the same thing I was wondering, im thinking of converting my 62 Comet from a generator to a 3 wire GM alternator and I want to keep the idiot light on my dash operable. I know that the #1 prong on the three wire GM alternator is the one thats supposed to go to the dash, but rather than cutting up the orignial wires and adding more I was wondering if someone could tell me what wire that would be, or a diagram would help....
on most charge warning lights, the output wire from the regulator would change from + to ground, depending if the regulator was switching the field current to regulate voltage, on one side of the charge warning bulb there's always +12 volts if the key is on, the other side goes to that regulator output, if the alternator is charging the warning bulb sees +12 volts from both sides and stays off, if it stops, that wire changes to a ground and the light comes on. different makers have other odd things added to it, I think Delco has a resistor or something, but thats the basics of how it works, I hope this helps if you want to make the light work
they make mega fuses also with nice well made holders, a lot of people use them in car stereos, they make almost any amperage you can think of. better then a fusible link.
Ya thanks guys, from the sounds of it, it would be easier just to make a new wire with a fusible link huh?
the fusible link will protect the system if something like a bad diode in alternator fails, etc. The mega fuses help protect power feed going to wiring panel, etc.
I just bought my wife one of those Alternators that looks like a Generator deals from Speedway. She has a 59 Galaxie. I got to install it when I get back home. I'll repost after I get it on & hooked up & running.
right, i meant put one inline with the power out of the alternator, I have a 70 amp in mine with a waterproof holder and bracket. 63 amp alternator, the good thing about fuses is they don't have a tendency to melt everywhere and throw sparks like a fusible link, both do the same thing, one is also much easier to replace,
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