Wholly crap she ran away on me

[Scrench]

I ordered a shutoff solonoid off amazon and it burned up this is the second time in less than 300 miles. So I took the top off the ip and stripped a piece of copper wire off and wired the tab back. Got in started it and wow she was wide open throttle dropped it in 4 wheel drive dumped the clutch and it wouldn't even lug down. I stomped the throttle and after about 30 seconds it idled down and I drove it on home.
What could be causing it to burn the solonoid and the headlights out. And now it ha's popped one of the caps off one of the batteries. Could the alternator be over charging

 

[Thewespaul]

It didn’t run away, the top cover was installed wrong and the metering valve was hung wide open instead of shut, giving you wide open throttle. If you get crappy amazon solenoids they burn up quick, get a proper stanadyne part and it will be good for decades.

When you run the truck, what is your voltage at?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

And now it ha's popped one of the caps off one of the batteries.

Until you said this, I had no guess. Now, I'd say that you're probably right. The voltage regulator's probably not working right. Years ago, on a 1979 F150, I had a voltage regulator wire get a break in the insulation and short out. The alternator still charged, it just didn't stop going up in voltage. I had some friends whose dad had a mechanic shop. I stopped in and he found the problem. He unplugged the regulator and taped up the wire. Then I got to stop in Wal-Mart and buy a new regulator and every light in the f#*&^ng truck except for the dash lights. I guess they had the regulator behind the dash and it saved them. I will say that the headlight were nice and bright for about two seconds before they burned out. This was back in the early 90's when Wal-Mart used to carry all of this stuff.

 

[Scrench]

It didn’t run away, the top cover was installed wrong and the metering valve was hung wide open instead of shut, giving you wide open throttle. If you get crappy amazon solenoids they burn up quick, get a proper stanadyne part and it will be good for decades.

When you run the truck, what is your voltage at?

The factory Guage in the dash stays right in the middle

 

[IDIBRONCO]

That's not an good way to tell. The factory gauges aren't very accurate.

 

[Randy Bush]

That's not an good way to tell. The factory gauges aren't very accurate.

Not accurate is an understatement.

 

[FrozenMerc]

The Factory gauge is an ammeter. It measures and displays amperage, not voltage. Measure the voltage at the battery, you will know quite quickly if the voltage regulator is bad (A very common problem on 1980's Ford Trucks).

 

[Scrench]

OK I went to the zone to get a new alternator and the one that I took off is a 100 amp. I bought a 65 amp. Could the faCT that the one I took off being a 100 amp be causing all my problems

 

[Thewespaul]

Did you check your voltage when running?

 

[Scrench]

Did you check your voltage when running?

No sir the guy at the zone told me that 100 amp would cause it to over charge so I just bought a new one
The new one wires differently my old one had a plug one wire on fld. A bat wire and a ground
The new alternator has a sta. A fld a ground and bat. Where would I wire the sta too? Thanks for everyone's help

 

[Scrench]

Well just read a sticker on the new alternator says that it has an external regulator

 

[Thewespaul]

If it’s overcharging (you need to confirm this by checking voltage before replacing anything) then the alternator is fine. Your regulator is the problem.

 

[Scrench]

If it’s overcharging (you need to confirm this by checking voltage before replacing anything) then the alternator is fine. Your regulator is the problem.

OK I'm going to put it back on and check it thanks

 

[Scrench]

OK I took it to the big o and they checked it. 13.50 low 14.69 actual and 1540 high
Diod trio passed
Regulator passed
Rectifier passed

 

[Scrench]

If it’s overcharging (you need to confirm this by checking voltage before replacing anything) then the alternator is fine. Your regulator is the problem.

There is no regulator anywhere. They told me it was internal is that correct