Green/Red wire on volt reg?

[chipk]

Just finished an engine rebuild on a 66 inline 200.

Found the green/red wire not connected to anything at the voltage regulator.

The Alt pin on the regulator is wired to the Alt stud on the Alternator.
The stator and Field pin are wired to the Field stud on the Alternator.
Nothing is wired to the stator stud on the Alternator.

The Alternator is not charging! Is it due to the green/red wire not connected to the ignition, or is it the regulator itself? The Alternator test good.

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, the A stud on the regulator should be hot all the time.
The S stud should be hot only key on.
I like to upgrade to the newer electronic voltage regulator.
Check for 12v at the yellow wire at the regulator.
There are good diagrams on line.
Good luck

 

[DirtDonk]

Which alternator do you have chip? Stock style? I'm guessing yes, but had to ask.
What about wiring? Since it's a stock Ford wire color you're asking about, you either have an original harness, or a new Painless. Still original?

Because yours is a '66 I can't guarantee all of my statements will be true 100% of the time(!) but here's the basic rundown of the charging connections, common to all Broncos as far as the diagrams go. But early '66's had some variations, including different wire colors for some circuits.

Normally though, as Ron was saying the positions of the wires are:

1. F is the Orange Field wire and runs directly to the FLD connector on the back of the alternator.
2. S is the "Switched" Green w/red wire (yes, it's originally the "stator" connector, but humor me for the moment;D) and runs directly from the ignition switch to the regulator.
3. A is the "always hot" Yellow wire directly from the harness. It's usually spliced into the large Black w/yellow wire somewhere under all that harness tape.
4. I is left blank.

And that's the crux of the matter here. Broncos, and all Ford trucks that used an ammeter in the dash instead of a charge indicator light had their regulators wired differently than other cars did. So if you're going by a book that's not specific to Broncos, find another one.
But in the meantime go by my list above and see if that works.

If still having trouble, verify that the Yellow wire has full battery voltage all the time, and the Green w/red wire has full battery voltage when the key is in the ON position only.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry, forgot the back of the alternator.

As mentioned the FLD stud gets the Orange wire and nothing else.
The STA wire does not get anything on a Bronco until '73 when it was used to power up the electric choke mechanism on the carburetor.
The BAT has only the Black w/yellow (or it may be just Black, or Black w/red) wire and nothing else.
Any one of the GRD studs gets the ground wire and runs over to one of the mounting bolts for the voltage regulator.

Remember, never connect power to a voltage regulator until it's bolted to the body and fully grounded.

Tell us this though. Is your wiring harness still intact at the back of the alternator, in that it has that large molded rubber strain-relief? Or are they just individual wires?
Is the large BAT wire Black with a yellow stripe?

Paul

 

[chipk]

Thanks for the outstanding information!
It's original wiring and stock Altenator. I found the problem. The green/red wire was getting 12 volt all the time from the ignition switch. It had a ring terminal mounted to the ignition A post and had burned out the regulator.
I will rewire to the C post in the ignition and try a new regulator. Update when I get results.

 

[DirtDonk]

Are the wire colors all as I said? Or is there a variation on those for your '66?
Yellow, Orange and the Green w/red are the only ones on the regulator itself, with a very small gauge Black (maybe with a red stripe) as a ground.

Oh, and speaking of grounds (and even if we weren't) make sure you have retained a ground wire to the body from the battery, and not just the engine block.
If you still have the original battery cables (there are still a few around) you'll see where Ford grounded the engine, but mid-way down the ground cable there is a bare spot with a metal tab that's bolted to the wheel well. This is the body ground.

When changing out the stock old cable for a new one, most do not connect the body ground back up. Magically and mysteriously, things still work. But they never work as good as they did originally.
Adding body grounds (in a couple of places in fact) is usually a good thing to do.
Or at least make sure yours is still intact, and maybe add a second behind the engine to the firewall.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

And since yours is original, PLEASE take some good clear pictures of how it's laid out under the hood. Wiring for the regulator and even at the back of the ignition switch while you're at it.
This is great reference material for the rest of us. Especially when it comes to '66 models.

Thanks

Paul