ALT

[-=DeanstuD=-]

OK being an 87, my guages are a mess and you just can't trust them. So, I of course ignored the red battery symbol when it lit up.

Well the batteries died. So my alt isn't charging them. I have a 3g that I planned to put in when this happened, but OMG WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL THESE WIRES!?!?!


http://picasaweb.google.com/deanstud/87F350Dismal4x4



SO I wondered what wires are reaaaaaallly supposed to be hooked up there and what are junk?

 

[LUCKY_LARUE60]

That picture is the starter relay, don't worry about any of the wires if you are replacing the alt just disconnect the ground wires on the batteries and the wires on the back of the alt if I understand your question.

Jim

 

[adam g]

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14573 Here is Mr Robotos thread on alt install. There is a wiring dia.or a link to one in this article. I did it and it was a breeze.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

As a general rule, a bad alternator will make the gauges read all haywire.

I don't know the scientifics behind it; but, when an alternator starts going out, you will get all kinds of erratic gauge readings.


Your gauges might work fine with a new alternator.

 

[adam g]

When the diodes in an alt fail it produces a/c which drives the electrical componets nuts.

 

[Agnem]

Assuming they short when they fail. If they (not all though) fail open, then you get halve or quarter wave DC or nothing at all.

 

[-=DeanstuD=-]

OK, it's in. I didn't need a washer/spacer to keep my pulley from rubbing the casing. I do however need to get a smaller belt for my vacuum pump.


The writeup says:

" Note that the Light Green / red wire that goes to the "I" terminal must be cut off of your existing voltage regulator harness, it is long enough to pull it out of the loom and run it to your new alternator."



So, it doesn't work ( I have found that the problem is the LG/RED wire. I took it from the voltage regulator like the writeup said.

I have decided that is the problem, because if i touch that wire to the bat then the alt starts working. The wiring in this FORD is a mess, of overheated melted crap!

Since the redgreen wire is dead or at least not doing what it is supposed to, where else can I hook this wire up? I currently (LMAO PUN) have it alligator clipped to the POS term on the BAT, but I don't want to have to attach and remove it every time I go somewhere.

 

[Compu Doc]

As a general rule, a bad alternator will make the gauges read all haywire.

I don't know the scientifics behind it; but, when an alternator starts going out, you will get all kinds of erratic gauge readings.


Your gauges might work fine with a new alternator.

That's why I love the voltage gauges in my truck. I can tell when the alternator is going south before it actually does. Notice I said gauges?. That is because my truck has 2 totally seperate alternaotrs and 2 sets of batterys so it has 2 seperate charging systems. When one fails all I have to do is flip a switch to run the other until the bad one is fixed .

 

[Andylad13]

i see this has happened to you before!!!!!

 

[cleithau]

Ahh....this story won't help you any but hopefully someone wil get a laugh out of it. When my alternator died I was on my way to Green Bay, WI from Mackinaw City, MI. It died about 70 miles from Green Bay, of course I didn't bring my tool box. I drove it to Green Bay, parked in in front of the DMV where I had to get it registered. Let it run for the 45 minute wait since I couldn't start it up again. On the drive back it started getting dark and my headlights lasted for only a couple hours. Eventually I resorted to pulling over on the side of the road an waiting for cars to drive by and when they did I started to accelerate before they passed me so I could pull out right behind them. I think I was scaring the crap out of people, a big old Ford with no headlights tailgating them in the night. Then came time for me to be scared. I was driving without a lead car, the moonlight along the lake shore was enough to keep me from driving off the road, when I see up ahead a cop who has someone pulled over. I go speeding by, no headlights, can't tell how fast I'm going, and I made it. Then I get to the tole booth at the Mackinaw Bridge and the lady pears her head out and says "sir, your headlights aren't on" I hand her the tole money and reply "There on". "Sir I can see from here they are not on." "Oh there as on as they get" and I speed away. The last five miles were the hardest, no cars to follow, no moonlight, I just stuck my head out the window, drove in the on coming lane and looked at the line of black and grey the grass made where it met the shoulder of the road. Whee, don't try that at home.

 

[JPR]

So, it doesn't work ( I have found that the problem is the LG/RED wire. I took it from the voltage regulator like the writeup said.

I have decided that is the problem, because if i touch that wire to the bat then the alt starts working. The wiring in this FORD is a mess, of overheated melted crap!

Since the redgreen wire is dead or at least not doing what it is supposed to, where else can I hook this wire up? I currently (LMAO PUN) have it alligator clipped to the POS term on the BAT, but I don't want to have to attach and remove it every time I go somewhere.

Looking at the 92 schematic, the light green - red wire comes off the main connection at the firewall and and through another 4 pin connect and finally to the regulator. If the wire is a damaged, you should be able to pick it up at the firewall. The schematic implies that it is in the 9 o'clock position.

I now have an upside to my moment of insanity when I installed an alternator of another brand. No green-read wire needed, just a hot lead to the battery.

 

[Andylad13]

cleithau thanks! i needed a good laugh...oh man....that was good.