Ok my 61 has been a pita lately. If I put the multi meter on the charged up battery at fire up and idle she stays at 12.9 volts, put the lights on, blower on high, she starts to draw power quickly, also the lights are very dim from the get to. If I turn that stuff off it will begin to charge again slowly, all of this was done while keeping the rpm up on the motor. I realize generators don't charge at idle..I ordered up a new generator and a voltage regulator due to te fact I had quick access to the parts. I don't feel like trying to retro fit a alternator on this FE motor as I haven't found an easy to use solution and the powergen seems cool...but pricey..I don't run any big stereos or accessories so 30 amps is fine. Man I love em but this stuffs getting tiring...I wanna drive em!
Also, check the wiring and connections. A little resistance due to a loose/oxidized connection or wire (they can be completely oxidized or broken inside a good looking insulation) will cause a serious loss of voltage. 0.1V lost here and 0.2V lost there adds up quickly. A good check is to measure the voltage out on the generator, and compare it to the voltage on the battery poles. A significant drop tells you to start looking for the problem(s) hiding in the wiring/ground between them. Further measurments in various places will tell you where the problems are.
You may find a youtube video on adjusting a Ford reg. Could be a small screw, or could be a bendable tang that holds the spring. A video or a manual for that era Ford should make the job easy WHEN you find which coil tower is the one that controls output.
ive been reading up on this as of late. simple and confusing all at once. still dont understand 3 1/2 or 4 on the number of turns for an armature. right there with ya on the hate it part.
You said it begins at 12.9 and then drops, but you didn't say how much. A generator only has 30-35A available at full output. These systems were designed to rely on the battery as a buffer to loads. In other words, the battery will be drawn upon when the generator output is low and when loads are high. If your battery is weak, it won't have the reserve capacity to keep up. On my two generator cars, headlights and blower on will put me right on the edge of discharge. Add in brake lights and/or turn signals and she's on the minus side. Ran that way for years and years.
All it takes is 1 marginal cell in a battery to tax a generator/regulator system. Swap in a fresher battery and see what it does, but do get the battery checked. Any battery over 4-5 years old, I replace them before they can cause me any woes. Bob
I've had more generators than alternators on my hotrods and never adjusted a regulator. All the ones that I bought had paint on the adjuster screw...the warranty was voided if you brought one back with the paint disturbed. You did not say if you polarized the generator. Get a book and read it. Fords and GMs polarize differently. I never trust my memory. My FE with a generator. I took a perfectly fine alternator off. I had a hard time finding FE generator brackets. I'm proud of the NOS Cal Custom stainless steel generator dress up cover. Much cooler than a one wire chrome alternator IMHO I rebuilt it, installed it and polarized it before I got the engine started. Once it started I was pleased to have 14Vs at the battery. The first time in my life that I did not have to polarize a generator after I got the transplant running.
I had a 59 Chevy wagon 283 V8 that would do somewhat as you explained. The generator tell tale light would light ever so dimly (had to watch it at night) when the headlights were on. Turn on heater blower motor and the light would get brighter. My 54 Chrysler does the same thing. Seems that a couple of things were happening. One, a resistance along a wire or terminal was causing the battery to charge at a lower rate than the generator was putting out. Or the voltage regulator was limiting the charge to the battery. I installed an ammeter on the Chevy and it did show a small charge with all of the stuff on when above 1000 rpm, so the battery was getting a charge. What it turns out to be is that the generator armature terminal is a volt or two higher than the battery terminal, thereby turning on the tell tale light. (The light is lit in reverse when the engine is off; armature grounds light) My suggestion is to measure between the armature and bat terminal on the voltage regulator. It should have a very small voltage when charging at 1000 rpm. If the reading is higher than .5 volts, then you have either a VR issue or wiring has resistance where it should not.
Battery tested out fine at oreillys, running the blower motor on high for 5 miles killed the battery! Drove from my house to the shop and there wasn't enough juice to get it to refire..fun pushing that beast across a dirt lot that ends with a downhill grade going right into a door just wide enough to get the car in. The battery was charged and never got above 12.9 with nothing on and the Rpms up. Wiring looks good. I also pull the cable if the car sits for any time. I realize the battery will drain and then the generator kicks in to re charge it up. I'm throwing the new stuff on when it arrives and we will see what happens also all lights are very very dim
If I'm reading you right, your generator is charging (very slightly low on voltage) but can't keep up with fairly light loads. This is Ford stuff. My first flying guess is that you are losing juice all along the way from bad grounds...beaters have bad grounds at every connection from rust and dirt, perfect cars have bad grounds from thick paint! Start diagnosis by making up some jumper wires, run them from gen case or G terminal AND from baseplate of regulator right to where ground cable bolts to car and see what happens. If no go...Somewhere on here I have a long post on testing FOMOCO gens and regs. Just double all the numbers since I right in 6 volt...it all works the same way.
Back in the day, I worked at an auto electric shop, and owned a '63. One thing we found on these was that the main feed wire from the starter relay to the regulator also branched off nearby the regulator to feed the dash circuits. This splice was insulated by a plastic block cast around it. We found several where water was able to wick into it and corrode the splice. When we cut into it, we saw nothing but green corrosion. I'd recommend that this be checked anytime there's a voltage problem. It'll be a large yellow wire probably near where the regulator wires branch off from the main harness. It may be wrapped inside the harness as well. I never understood why Ford persisted in hanging a generator down low where it caught all of the road splash. We made a lot of money changing them out. Older cars like this are probably missing the rubber splash aprons they originally had to help shield the generator. Also usually missing is a rubber guard that went on the back end of the generator to keep splash out of the brush area. Consider hanging an alternator on it. You'd have to source bracketry from later years, but if it was painted black, nobody would notice it.
Thanks for the tips. I would love to throw and alt on it... Not a simple bolt on for early FE's gotta pull fan, water pump, and replacing timing cover with a later one in order to utilize the only brackets I could find to make this a some what bolt on. It's all stock, no TVs, radios with monster amps etc.. So I m fine with the generator as long as it works
There are lots of conversion parts out there. Here's a company that offers them. Have a look a part # A200. http://alternatorparts.com/10si-all-in-one.html#brackets
Ok so the battery was 12.9 volts..turn on the lights and blower motor she loses power....if I shut the stuff off and keep the motor revved it re charged slightly,but I never got a strong reading again. I also don't have a draw anymore after fixing the brake light switch. Fingers crossed the new gen and volt reg take care of this
Ok so a new generator and voltage regulator and I got 13.9 volts on start up! Turn everything on and not dropping...sat for 3 days and fired right up. Oreilys had the parts to me in 2 days . I have to say I'm impressed with them..I got rubber brake lines and all the belts while I waited! Feels good to be in the wind again....now on to the F100! Thanks for all the help folks!
Good news, keep a fresh belt on it. When they wear down and ride in the bottom of the pulley instead of on the sides of the V they will slip under load.
I gotta tell ya, unless you are showing it and would lose points for an alternator, I would find a way to put a 1-wire alternator on it. I guess it depends on your fabrication skills, but making a bracket, or finding a bracket and modifying it is not too tough. There is a good reason they switched to alternators. If you want to drive it, get one. My 2 cents, Dan
The Jalopy Journal
