Alt. light

[70f10rat]

As title says, alt lights on. It's charging upon startup meter reads mid 14v. After it's running n up to temp, reads lower 13v. Battery cables have seen better days but wrapped up cracked insulation, on grounds also.
When the trucks off, there's a draw on the battery. It slowly drains about .01v every 30 seconds or so. If I leave ground terminal on over night, battery's dead. New battery also.

Trucks road ready just need to sort out this issue. Looking for tips or ideas..

One other question. There's a pink or violet wire hanging down behind cluster with a spade terminal on it. What is/ where does this go?

I just need to buy a repair manual with a color coded wiring diagram!'

Thanks a bunch!

-Sean

[68RGR]

I kinda think I'd be looking hard at the voltage regulator. The yellow wire (at least it's yellow on 69 trucks) on the voltage regulator connects to the battery through the starter solenoid HOT terminal. If there is a problem with the regulator, it could be causing both the charging issue and the battery drain. Why not try disconnecting the yellow wire at the regulator to see if that cures the battery drain? If it doesn't, try disconnecting the white wire with the black stripe from the regulator to see if that stops the drain. Heck, just disconnect all of them one at a time while monitoring the battery voltage. Be sure they don't touch ground while they're disconnected!

Be advised that I am referring to the 1969 wiring diagram found here:

http://www.fordification.com/tech/wirin ... rging2.jpg

The colors above may or may not apply to your truck. Also, I haven't run into the issues you described so I am basing on my suggestions on the diagram.

Regardless, you should be able to narrow the drain issue down by disconnecting one thing at a time. You can disconnect the black wire with the yellow stripe at the starter solenoid to eliminate many things because it feeds lots of stuff.

If disconnecting a wire from the voltage regulator solves the drain issue, you might want to try replacing the regulator. That just might solve both problems.

One other thought - If the regulator is the problem, it might be warmer than the surrounding material. You could park the truck in the shade, wait an hour or so and see if the regulator feels warmer than it should. If so, it's likely drawing current when it shouldn't be . . . Again, time for a new one.

I suppose there might be a problem with the alternator, too. Just take it one thing at a time.

The only pink wire I saw on the diagram was the resistor wire leaving the ignition switch and feeding the coil. But, I don't know about the spade terminal.

[70f10rat]

I'll check that out thanks! Everything on the truck as far as electrical goes looks original....by that I mean rough. When po. Replaced inner fenders, they just snipped harnesses to remove the front clip....

So I had sorting to do. Nothing was bolted in place, regulator, horn horn relay all just laying in engine bay.

[70f10rat]

Ok so I unplugged the voltage regulator with key off... Multimeter jumped ten points and slowly climbed.
Does this mean that regulator is faulty?

[68RGR]

I'd say that's a pretty good indication.

With that wire disconnected, what happens to the battery over night? Dead or alive the next day?

[70f10rat]

Ok well I drove it yesterday after I replaced the alt belt that it tossed the day before, and the alt. light went out on its own? It holds voltage but is slightly overcharging now. While running there's a little over 15v. Then with the key off the battery holds at mid 13v range.

I'm just going to replace the regulator before I end up frying something else....

[70f10rat]

Issue solved. Thanks

[Mancar1]

Always great when u get it figured out.
Keep on Trucking