Charging issues

[Rot Box]

this is the 91 you speak of, right? please tell me it has the tool box in the bed!

i dont know when they deletd this, but i love the bed tool box in my 71!

I wish those were awesome. The newest Ford I've seen with one was a 79. Not sure what was included with the camper special on my 91 besides the higher output alternator It does't even have the cool emblems like the camper specials did back in the 70's.

 

[snicklas]

this is the 91 you speak of, right? please tell me it has the tool box in the bed!

i dont know when they deletd this, but i love the bed tool box in my 71!

IDIoit,

As far as I know, the only years/bodies that offered the tool box was the Bumpside (68-72) and the Dentside (73-79). I've not seen any newer than a 79 with a toolbox in the bed. The toolbox in the bed was not a Camper Special only option. We had a 73 F-250 Explorer Package truck with the toolbox in the passenger bedside.

The "thing" that was a Camper Special only option, was the Dentside (73-79) spare tire carrier in the F-350 Camper Special with the aft mounted rear axle, not centered in the bed like a standard truck. This setup allowed enough room in front of the rear axle for the spare tire to be mounted in the bedside. I have seen 2 or 3 like this, they were all early dentsides, and all them had the aft mounted rear axle. Here is a pic of what I am talking about:

Entire truck, note the cutout side in the bed, and how far back the rear axle is mounted:

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Here is the cutout removed so you can see the tire:

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Here is the inside of the bed. Note the hump for the spare tire, and how far back the fenders are:

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This setup also increased the capacity of the truck, take a look at this camper:

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Here is the spec sheet that has some info on the Camper Special, and the Super Camper Special trucks (it appears the Super Camper Special is the one with the aft mounted axle (110 in wheelbase) and the in bed spare tire carrier:

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That was about the best spare tire mounting option I have seen. It is covered, inside the bedside, and out of the weather and mud and muck under the truck, unlike the spare under the rear tank.....

Rot Box - Sorry about the hijack..... I remember these when they were new, and really thought they were neat. They always stuck with me, and I still keep an eye out for them. It was a really neat idea to customize a truck from the factory for a specific purpose.

 

[sassyrel]

Take your meter and with the truck off, measure the voltage at the bat output lug on the back of the alternator. If you do not get 12v there, then the fusible link is burnt out. This is usually caused by changing/messing around with the alternator wiring without disconnecting the battery. Happens all the time. Then the alternator is just out there by itself, not charging the battery because the fusible link is blown.

If you get 12v on the back of the alternator, some other things to check;

Put your meter lead on ground and put the other lead on the "I" terminal of the regulator(red/green wire) While holding the meter, get someone to turn the key to run but don't start the truck. When they do that, you should get voltage on the "I" terminal, this comes from the lightbulb in the dash and brings the system online and ready to charge. If you don't get anything, you still have dash problems.

The "A" terminal on the reg should have battery voltage at all times. This terminal is the monitor for the voltage regulator, the regulator uses this info to tell the alternator how much to put out.

The "S" terminal goes directly to the alternator.

The "F" terminal is the output of the regulator and more or less voltage on this wire will vary the output of the alternator. When you jumped the A and the F, you put full voltage on the F and the alternator should have gone wide open. It may have, but you didn't see it if the fusible link is burnt out.

thanks!! you did more typing, then I wanted to...

 

[Rot Box]

Ok so at an idle I'm seeing ~14.2 volts which is great. Went down the freeway a few days ago and the voltage went up past the L on NORMAL. I'm guessing that's somewhere in the 16.5-17-almost 18 volt range. Headlights on, blower motor on full blast and it wouldn't come down...

Swapped on a new voltage regulator today. Going to put the meter on it as well so I know exactly how many volts it's producing. This is with a reman (they don't sell new ones anymore.... at least they said they don't) 1G Motorcraft alternator from Ford.

Any ideas for overcharging?? I can't catch a break with this thing to save me life

 

[sassyrel]

Ok so at an idle I'm seeing ~14.2 volts which is great. Went down the freeway a few days ago and the voltage went up past the L on NORMAL. I'm guessing that's somewhere in the 16.5-17-almost 18 volt range. Headlights on, blower motor on full blast and it wouldn't come down...

Swapped on a new voltage regulator today. Going to put the meter on it as well so I know exactly how many volts it's producing. This is with a reman (they don't sell new ones anymore.... at least they said they don't) 1G Motorcraft alternator from Ford.

Any ideas for overcharging?? I can't catch a break with this thing to save me life

the alt itself,,is told by the regulator how much to charge,,by the input voltage on the brushes...you should be ok now...too bad I didn't read this thread right from the start...coulld have helped with the 100 amp fiasco....

 

[Rot Box]

False alarm guys... Sorry


Went for a test drive just now and the new regulator didn't change a thing.... which turned out to be good I guess. Even past the L on the gauge my multi-meter is showing 14.6 volts which is safe. I knew better than to trust a Ford gauge.


To wrap this story up: My old alternator died and the new alternator fixed the problem. A few things were really confusing but now I understand my charging system much better than I did a few weeks ago. Thanks again everyone for all the help.

 

[BrandonMag]

Glad you figured out your charging issues.
I too was having some charging problems with my truck. Replaced the regulator with an adjustable one and replaced the alternator. Still had issues. Turned out the body to engine block ground was disconnected.