Alternator WOES please help!

Man am I glad I found this forum. I have been looking for a while for a forum that can help and this looks like the one to do it.

OK so I bought a 1963 Econoline for work. This is exactly what I was looking for. The guy I bought it from said the charging light was on and stayed on and he wasnt sure why but that it needed to be addressed.

Well I tapped on the regulator and the light went out, but when I parked it and took out the key the light went on and stayed on. I bought a new regulator but the light stayed on when I started the van. I looked around and it appears I have an alternator (I should have looked first but I got the regualtor on the way home with it).

Can some one help me out. The alternator should have a regualtor built in?? Am I right? Also if that is the case there is no need for the stock regulator any more right? How do I wire this so I can still use the dummy light. I have included pics and would really like to fix this so I could start using this for work. Thanks in advance!!

Hans, You have a 50 year old vehicle that may have come with a generator. Voltage regulators are different for generators and alternators.
I see you have a ford alt, they have no one wire alts. you really need a wire diagram. One picture looks like a loose ground wire.
Good luck.

OK there is a sta on the alternator so then that is the missing wire? What regulator do I get? I have an autozone not too far that I can get one from but not sure what to ask for. Thanks so much guys I really appreciate this!!

It does have the idiot light. There are 2 wires on the ARM--1 wire on the FLD--and 2 wires on the BAT terminal of the regulator I have now.

Thanks for taking the time to help me on this!!!

I looked around for another regulator but that is the only one i see.

So then will the Duralast VR730 from Autozone work? I will pick this up tomorrow if it does.

How do I know which wire is the idiot light? Also since A+ is battery on the new regultor what do I do with the small wire that is also hooked up to BAT on the old regulator? What do I do with the 2 wires that are going to the ARM slot of the old regulator?

OK so if I understand I just put all the wires that were with the ARM and BAT on the old regulator with the A+ on the new regulator and then just have new wires for STA and FLD from alternator to the new regulator. Then just make sure my the idiot light is to I. In the diagram the ground wire is coming straight from the altrnator should I do the same thig or use the one that is already there in the harness??

OK I think I got it! I will let you know the outcome later when all is done. Sounds easy enough, but never doing it before can be confusing. Thanks again for all the help!!

hansolo welcome to vintage vans. donnivan and the ford gang will get you straighten out...

Welcome to VV Hans...You have definatley come to the right place. The Force is strong in here!

Thank you guys for all the welcomes! It is great to find a forum with this much knowledge and help!!

So I said I would report back!! Here it goes:

I bought the regulator and hooked it up exactly as I was told. I put the key in turned it and the idiot light came on, then I cranked it---------The light went out and it works perfect from what I can tell.

The lights are brighter then they were, it cranks faster then it did and it just sounds better! I cant thank you guys enough!! There is a little more wiring then I like and if I knew about the 1 wire mentioned above I may have went that way, but I worked with what I had and I am happy!!

I do have more things to work on like how to remove the horn button, how do I test to see if my fuel gauge is bad etc etc, but for now I can use this for work without wondering if I will be stranded somewhere!!

Many thanks!!

Donivan is right about the alternator. I switched to a one wire Ford style 100A from summit but I have the shunt ammeter, not the idiot light. One less point of failure and cleans up your wiring.

Horn Button is easy but be sure you pull the ground on your battery first. Just push down and turn it like a pickle jar but don't lose the spring. As far as the fuel gauge the most common issue is a bad ground to the fuel tank, check that first. A 10 ohm resistor in place of your sending unit should make it read full. More info here:

Gas Gauge Confusion??