68 fury won’t charge

[AdamH]

new alternator and new regulator and the car won’t charge
Is there a chance my alternator is incorrect / has an internal regulator and that’s causing the problem?

 

[FURYGT]

Adam, What type of alternator did you install? Single field round back? Dual feed square back? Non-mopar? Give us as many details as you can.

 

[65sporty]

Pic's are also helpful

 

[AdamH]

Single field round back. Looks exactly like what the FSM shows so I’m fairly sure it’s not internally regulated.

Non-MOPAR.

New regulator came from you FuryGT.

Car charged fine before engine swap. Dropped in 440 and got a new battery at same time.

 

[AdamH]

 

[69monaco]

You need the old style regulator. before 70 , so the one for a 70 sp fury is not correct.

 

[AdamH]

You need the old style regulator. before 70 , so the one for a 70 sp fury is not correct.

I don’t follow. The new regulator I purchased from FURYGT states it’s for a 68.

Where are you getting that I have one for a 70?

 

[69monaco]

Sorry wrong reading!!!!

 

[jorkkeri72]

forget your drive belt?

 

[FURYGT]

Any possibility that something is wired incorrectly or that an old brittle wire broke internally?

Are you measuring the voltage at the battery with the engine off and then with the engine running? If yes, what are you getting for voltage readings?

Is the voltage regulator grounded good? Sometimes if it is mounted to a freshly painted firewall the mounting screws don't get through the paint to make a good ground. A rare situation but thought I would through it out there.

 

[Big_John]

A couple things to check...
First, check voltage at the battery with the car off, then at idle and then at a high idle(~1000 RPM) See what you have and if it changes at all. Somewhere between 13.5-14 volts at high idle is what you are looking for.

If there's no increase in voltage with the engine running, now you need to start checking a few things.
Test the battery. If you don't have a load tester, you can either take the battery to your local Auto Zone type shop and have them check it.... Or a quick and dirty way is to charge the battery and check the voltage with the car not running. Turn on the headlights and see if the voltage drops off fast. A bad battery won't charge.

If that's OK....Check battery cables to be clean and tight. Both ends of the cables, not just the battery end.
As said, check the voltage regulator for good ground and that all the wiring is tight, clean and installed correctly.

If all that looks good, unplug the field connection from the alternator. Make a jumper wire that runs from the field connection to the battery connection on the alternator. Check the battery voltage first, then start car and immediately turn on headlights. Check the voltage at idle and high idle. If there is no increase when it's running, that points to a problem with the alternator. If the voltage goes up, it points to a problem with the regulator. Don't run the engine for long like this as it may be overcharging the battery. This is a test procedure almost straight from the FSM, but you are using the headlights as the load.

If you don't have a FSM, download one here: MyMopar - Mopar Forums & Information - Service Manuals

 

[Mr C]

Had the same problem once...turned out to be a broken wire at the field connector on the alt.

 

[AdamH]

Thanks for the info everyone. Gives me a place to start tomorrow. I’ll report back after checking these things

 

[AdamH]

Results of today:

Took battery to get tested = all good
New alternator
New regulator plus still have old one.

Battery cables tight on all ends. I sanded the firewall down to bare metal about the size of a dime under where the top bolt goes to the firewall for the regulator to ensure good ground.

I tried the jumper wire method and maybe I screwed up. I put a jumper wire from the positive bolt on the alternator to the field spade connector on the alternator. Was I supposed to do that? Results of that test with lights on as suggested:
Headlights acted possessed and won’t come on now however all other lights function as normal
Temp gauge quit working
Voltage did go up some when doing this

Swapped out new regulator with original one and no changes with tests

At no point today, with the various tests, did I get a volt reading over 12.6

 

[Big_John]

New alternator

I'm confused. Did you change the alternator again??

At no point today, with the various tests, did I get a volt reading over 12.6

If you didn't get over 12.6 volts with the jumper on, then I would say you have an issue with the alternator.

But.... Having the other electrical issues is bothersome. Check the temperature gauge connection at the waterpump. Bet you knocked it off. The headlights has me scratching my head though. It makes me wonder if you have some other electrical gremlins causing the whole problem.

 

[AdamH]

Alternator is new. Didn’t replace with new one yesterday. Sorry for the confusion

Temp gauge connection looks good. Was working 5 mins before I Did the jumper wire test. Did I misunderstand the jumper wire test you described? I made a jumper from the field post on the alternator to the power post on the alternator. Was this correct?

Before engine swap I had zero electrical issues. Drove the car quite regularly. Swapped in the 440 with a TCI 727. Upgraded to aluminum radiator, replaced battery to the new one I described above that checks out fine. When driving after engine swap realized car wasn’t charging. Had alternator checked and purchased a new regulator. Still no charge.

 

[Big_John]

That is the correct way to jumper the alternator. If it got shorted to ground accidentally, it could take out the fusible link and that might explain the new issues.

Some reading that may help. 1969 Chrysler Imperial Charging System Diagnosis Service Guide from the Master Technicians Service Conference Session 256

You didn't say that you did an engine swap and this wasn't an issue before you did the swap. That brings a lot of possible issues into play. Pinched wires for one. If the alternator was changed at the time, that could be suspect too.

 

[AdamH]

That is the correct way to jumper the alternator. If it got shorted to ground accidentally, it could take out the fusible link and that might explain the new issues.

Some reading that may help. 1969 Chrysler Imperial Charging System Diagnosis Service Guide from the Master Technicians Service Conference Session 256

You didn't say that you did an engine swap and this wasn't an issue before you did the swap. That brings a lot of possible issues into play. Pinched wires for one. If the alternator was changed at the time, that could be suspect too.

Thanks for the reply. Alternator was new at engine swap. Took it off and had it checked to ensure it wasn’t bad from the start. It checks good as well. Thanks for the link. Wires all look good. I may be looking at a complete re-wire. Not sure what else to do. I’ve done 3 other classics bumper to bumper so I’m not afraid just hoping to not have to go that route

 

[AdamH]

Just thought about something. Looking at my pic above my alternator only has one field post which is connected to the wire harness. I do not have a 2nd field post to connect to chassis ground. Could that be my problem?

 

[Big_John]

Just thought about something. Looking at my pic above my alternator only has one field post which is connected to the wire harness. I do not have a 2nd field post to connect to chassis ground. Could that be my problem?

No, there is no ground wire from the alternator.

The alternator is grounded through the mounting bolts. With a fresh engine, you could have an issue with nice new paint insulating the mountings and causing an issue. Same for engine and regulator grounds. You do have a ground wire from the engine to the body, correct?