The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay i put a new altenator on my 66 and still not charging.HELP

I HOOKED EVERYTHING UP JUST LIKE THE OLD ONE BUT WHEN I TAKE THE CABLE OFF WHILE RUNNING IT DIES COULD THIS BE THE REGULATOR? OR CAN I JUST GET A ALTENATOR FROM A LATER MODEL? WITH BUILT IN REGULATOR,IF SO HOW WOULD I BY PASS THE OLD REGULATOR,THANKS , MARK

Assuming the alternator is wired correctly, the regulator can be tested by bypassing it. You are going to need a jumper wire. Unplug the regulator , put the jumper wire between the battery hot terminal and the field terminal. These terminals are probably marked F, 2,3,4.
You want to jumper F to 4. (It has been so long, I cannot remember if it is 3 or 4, one is hot with the key, one is hot at all times. You want the one hot at all times) This will energize the alternator and cause it to go full power. It is called "full Fielding". If the alternator now charges, the regulator was defective. If still not charging, you either have a bad alternator or it is hooked up wrong. Don't leave it like this to long, the alternator will overcharge the battery.

If you want to go to an internal regulator, just take the wire off the regulator that was hot at all tmes and connect it to terminal 2 on the new alternator. Take the wire that is hot with the key and connect it to terminal number 1 on the new alternator. Hook up the battery wire at the large connector and you are done. The other wire(s) on the old regulator are not needed and can be left alone or taped back into the harness. By the way, This way only works if you have a battery charge lite (idiot lite). If your truck has a voltmeter or ammeter the hook up is different.

By the way, taking the battery cable off with the engine running is good way to blow diodes in the alternator. Invest $10 in a cheap voltmeter at Chief/checker/Auto Zone.

Good luck

on mine i stripped the under hood harness from the alt.back to the regulater,hooked the wire from the battery to the large terminal on the back of the alt. and put a jumper between the large terminal and one of the small terminals.i took a wire from the other terminal to the wire at the regulater to the generater light in the dash.i eliminated the other wires and retaped the harness.it works fine and the generater light works.on the three wire alt. two of the wires hook together and go to the battery,the large terminal and id have to go out to see which small terminal.