Olpapa

I have been upgrading electrical pieces and parts on my 1979 F150 6 cylinder. I have began to experience battery going down very rapidly. I replaced the following: 1) alternator, 2) voltage regulator, and 3) battery. I put the alternator on a voltage tester and it shows it charges very well. When I hook up the voltage regulator the charge disappears. So how do I determine that it is only the voltage regulator or is it the condensor attached with the voltage regulator? Can either be tested or do I just replace one until I figure it out?

Thank you,

Olpapa

847alexc

the voltage regulator can be tested at most parts houses for free. At least I know that we did them when I worked at napa, it really isn't very tough for them. Further more, their machines are mostly set up for older cars like yours. You just have to bring the part in.

ymeski56

If there is no load demand (headlights,blower motor,radio...)present, & battery is already at full charge, you wouldn"t expect to see much alt. charge output. Test for output w/ lights on to see if output increases. Engine is running when testing I assume. Its been 15+ years since I worked on a stand alone regulator. There was something about having to provide a momentary path to ground to initialize function, but the poor ol' brain cell that coughed up that blast from the past might have been rode hard & put away wet, a few times too many so you should wait for 2nd source comformation.