Stumped by the charging system.....

[bobenhotep]

Also check to make sure the regulator and alternator are properly grounded. You have enough new parts there that I think as long as you have the following, it should work

-alternator and regulator grounded properly
-F terminal on regulator wired to Field on alternator
-S terminal on regulator hooked to Stator on alternator
-A terminal on regulator hooked to solenoid positive lug
-Main terminal on alternator hooked to solenoid positive lug
-I terminal on regulator hooked to the Alt or Gen light, and the other wire on the bulb hooked to acc power.

Note that usually you can bypass an anmeter by hooking the two wires on it up to the same terminal. You may want to do that just to eliminate a variable from the troubleshooting list.

If all of that is good it should work. If not, we can figure it out. That is part of why we are here. We have enough knowledge between the mess of us that no one should have to troubleswap or throw money at problems that can be solved with brains.

Other than that I agree with Paul.

[bmcgc]

Paul sometimes you are to smart for your own good. You criticize me because I stated that once worked P/T at AZ and the reman alternators we sold have a high return rate. Somehow that makes you an expert and makes me some pizza guy who got a job at AZ. Ive been at this game for over 40 years, Ive picked up a few tricks along the way as well.

I know nothing about the OP truck.

Did he own it one day or for years before he started having charging problems?

Anything made in a factory has a predictable defect rate. That includes reman alternators and solenoids, and voltage regulators.

I tend to use the KISS method to diagnose problems. That means work through the simple solutions first.

As far as the one wire, reread my post.

And remember, what I would do may not be what you would do.

[F7BIGJOB]

Based on MY amp meter, when I first fire it of it goes to charge for a second or two, it'll show a discharge with lights on etc. when not running, needle always stays in middle, alt ouput is about 14.9vdc, but my battery is fully charged. It'll stay in the charge zone longer in the spring after a long winters rest. All normal imho-- is your battery fully charged and you really don't have an issue?

[Toyz]

Back to business! Kenny has given you a link and bobenhotep has provided wiring and ammeter bypass info. If nothing jumps out at you from that info ; then let's move on to testing. Remove the regulator connector and jumper from "a" to "f" on the connector. Start engine; voltage should be 13.7 +. If it is ; further wiring testing is needed. If it is not; further wiring testing is needed. Lack of charging voltage with regulator disconnected is likely to be a bad alternator, but may well have been caused by external problems. To avoid a repeat failure, further testing is required.
Hopefully, no new parts are damaged, and it will just be a matter of getting sensing voltage to the regulator, which may be as simple as repairing the ammeter or indicator light circuits.
Paul

[stswartz]

I have just been through this with my truck. You need power to the voltage regulator before it will work. It is normally supplied by the 12 volt source to the alt light which will be on with the key in the on position before you start the engine. My alternator wiring diagram said that i could apply 12 temporarily to the field terminal of the alternator and that would bypass the regulator. When i did that then i knew that my alternator was working properly. A bad bulb will also cause the problem if you don't have a resistor in parallel with the bulb

[stswartz]

forgot i had scanned this. My final solution was a 12 volt feed to the alternator light which supplied power to the regulator and everything ran like a top.

Note the bypass note to bypass the regulator to determine that everything is working correctly and charging, then you know you have a power source problem from the light.

[Toyz]

Good info, Steve! please note, that as Steve stated, a full battery voltage source should be used as opposed to the 5v that might be surmised from the upper diagram. Picking that up from the 12v side of the IP regulator is acceptable. The regulator bypass test may not eliminate all possibilities, such as a damaged regulator; it will, however provide a starting point. Again, as Steve stated, after the alternator has been proven, providing a 12v source directly to the regulator will determine whether the regulator itself is functioning.
As a final note, caution must be taken that grounds are in place as noted, and no other wires are allowed to make ground contact.

Paul

[ThinLizzy13]

Thanks again for all the info everyone, and thanks for that diagram stswartz. The truck is at my inlaws so its taken me a while to get back out there.
After taking in all the info from this post I finally getting back out there. I removed the ammeter, rechecked all the wiring, corrected some questionable wiring, replaced the indicator dash light, and dropped in the new alternator.
I was 99.9% sure everything looked and was hooked up totally correct. Turned the key and...alternator light came on, checked charge from the alternator and it must've been DOA Of course it was Sunday so no auto stores nearby were open, and ones that had been open were already closed. So I'm trading the alternator today and hopefully getting back out there in the next day or too.
Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the help. I should be able to solve any alternator issue I ever run into with this thread.

Also some background on the truck...
I picked it up about a month ago. It had been sitting in the owners woods for about 8 or 9 months. I had to replace the ignition assembly and the solenoid. I also replaced the voltage regulator with one from Napa. The alternator in it didn't work when I got the truck. I had it tested and it was bad, so the alternator in it now is the new one which is also bad. The truck was the seller's son's and as far as he knew the charging system had worked when it was parked there. Before being parked there he said his son had used it as a work truck in Oregon and shipped it back here to start a restoration. He parked it in the yard, lost interest, started a pretty sweet ford galaxie 500 sleeper project, and his father said he didn't wanna watch the truck sit there taking up space and wasting away. Any paperwork I got from the truck was just old bills of sale and he told me at some point the truck's 240 was switched out for a 300 (It does have the 3 pulley, but I have measured the stroke (?) on it yet). It also got a new hood somewhere along the way cause it has the V8 emblem on it and the paint underneath the current green paint is red, while on the rest of the truck is a light blue. Thats about all the info I got on the truck.

[ThinLizzy13]

So took the alternator to Napa and they said it was fine. I'm going to put it back in the next chance I get and try bypassing my voltage regulator.

So now my question is:

If my new voltage regulator is bad, shouldn't I still get charge to the battery from the alternator? My batt terminal is connected to the solenoid and to the A terminal, so I would think that I should still get charge to the battery?
I could just be confused from all the diagrams I've been looking at

[Toyz]

Direct answer to your question is no. The regulator energizes the field after receiving ignition power. Basically that is what you are doing when you jumper from A to F. Normal regulator operation is sensing voltage and adjusting charging accordingly; thus one negative aspect of a one-wire setup.
Check as stated from A to F at voltage regulator connector with regulator disconnected. If no charge, then check wiring from alt to regulator. You can also verify the alternator by providing battery voltage to the field at the alternator connections.
My first thought is that you still have no input to the regulator to provide exciting circuit to the alternator. I would not replace the regulator until verifying the power to it per other poster's recommendations
It appears the KISS theory just cost a little time and effort! To me, keep it simple represents; don't make any changes until you have assured all potential problems are addressed. As I stated previously; the very removal and re-installation of a component can either solve a problem, ie, wiring, or further complicate it. If the alternator had in fact failed the off-car test, you would have received a replacement, which probably would also have been damaged prior to the problem being corrected.
Stepping down from soapbox!
Paul

[ThinLizzy13]

Have yet to get out and check the truck again yet...got chased by a dog coming back from the local watering hole on saturday and busted my knee open on the sidewalk. So instead of work on truck sunday, it turned into get stitches and lay in bed sunday So the mystery continues until next weekend!

[Toyz]

Sorry to hear that. You know now you've got to watch out for that trifecta:
"watering holes", angry dogs, and vicious sidewalks
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Paul

[ThinLizzy13]

Thanks Paul. Stitches came out fine, and I will be sure to stay away from that trifecta from now on!
So the alternator is working fine now. My future father in law took a look at it and found a spliced wire that wasn't making a good connection. Guess its good to have a fresh pair of eyes on the wiring. All the frustration must've clouded my eye sight
Thanks to everyone for all the information. I can probably tackle any alternator problem I'll ever have with this thread
Also it looks like the future father in law is on the hunt for a slick now. Seeing my truck in his driveway for so long must've given him some slickitis! hahah

[bobenhotep]

Thanks Paul. Stitches came out fine, and I will be sure to stay away from that trifecta from now on!
So the alternator is working fine now. My future father in law took a look at it and found a spliced wire that wasn't making a good connection. Guess its good to have a fresh pair of eyes on the wiring. All the frustration must've clouded my eye sight
Thanks to everyone for all the information. I can probably tackle any alternator problem I'll ever have with this thread
Also it looks like the future father in law is on the hunt for a slick now. Seeing my truck in his driveway for so long must've given him some slickitis! hahah

The Slickitis spreads. Our plan is working.