The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 66 C10 Alternator problem

Hey,

I am streetroding a '66 C10 short step. I have removed the external regulator and have went with a 1 wire alternator. What do I do with the two wire pigtail that would normally go on the alternator and what do I do with the wires that were on the external regulator?? The Temp guage and the ammeter don't register anything when the engine is running. I appreciate any help that you can send.

John

Check out this link. It should answer your question about the wires.
http://www.classictruckshop.com/one_wire.asp

Thanks for the link. However, I still don't know what to do with the old external regulator wires. Do I just cut them off or ? The stock ammeter guage doesn't work but it tests out ok.

What symptom prompts you to say the amp guage isn't working?

Hey,

It doesn't move at all. When you turn the key on or the engine running and you turn on the lights etc. The needle doesn't move.

John

What happens if you turn on the headlights with the engine NOT running?

Nothing happens. I think that we have gotten away from the original question. What to do with the extra wires since I converted from an externally regulated alternator to a one wire alternator. Certainly some of these wires need to be connected to something or paired up or ?... Surely I am not going to just cut them off or let them dangle..

Are you doing this because your alternator died?
A internal regulated alternator isn't going to turn your truck into a street rod. It's just going to turn it into a truck with a cut up wiring harness.
My suggestion. Summit sells a rebuild kid for your old alternator made by QuickStart that will increase your external reg alt to 105 Amps. But first, do a little reading on this subject.
Autoshop 101
Go to the technical Articles and start reading. I haven't found anything better than this on the web. Don't let the fact that they use Toyota circuits and systems as examples, turn you away. They are for the most part very similar.
Internal Regulator
Has a pictorial wiring diagram. Click "previous" at the bottom of page for more info and diagram with amp gauge.
67-72 wiring
I don't know how close this is to a '66, but it may help.

Obviously one or the other type of alternator doesn't make a streetrod. I am not taking this truck back to original. I am modifying it quite a bit. Anyway, I got the answer that I needed from another source.

Is that to say it is now charging the battery at around 14 volts????

I would stay away from the one-wire. See other posts regarding one-wire vs 3-wire alternators, specifically a link posted by Alan Horvath. I suspect one of your unused wires is for the field connection to "energize" the regulator/alternator and likely part of the alternator light circuit. It is possible that the other one was connected to the output, or possibly a "sensor" wire. Is your existing harness in good shape? If not, you may want to re-wire from scratch, then you get to customize your harness for all the stuff you are going to use and where you are going to use it. I think a nicely wired truck adds greatly to its functionality and appearance; I have seen some real "rats nests" at car shows. Lots of nice chrome but the wiring looks like crap.

Did you even bother to read the link I gave you the other day ???
Your answer about the extra wires is on the very first page of the link !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p

It reads: You guys who have older cars with external-regulator alternators will have extra wires dangling. No problem--just unplug the wires or remove them.

Yes, I did read it and I don't have a problem with that. I got the answer that I needed from another guy. You guys can stop posting about this.