| silverchief | -- 10-22-2011 @ 9:34 AM |
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Looks like I may have to buy a new regulator for my 49. Is C&G as good as anybody? Assume NOS is no longer available. I hate the idea of ending up with an offshore piece of junk.
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| supereal | -- 10-22-2011 @ 10:43 AM |
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Bill: I have always been happy with C&G. You might also try NAPA. We sometimes find they either have, or can get, parts for early cars. As for NOS, most of it is long gone, or absurdly priced. As I mentioned in another post, much NOS advertised appears to be defective parts put back in the box by a dealer, or someone trying to pull a fast one. That often means that an expensive replacement doesn't fix the problem, leading to the mistaken conclusion that the problem lies elsewhere.
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| silverchief | -- 10-22-2011 @ 1:29 PM |
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Supereal C&G price is 42.00 plus shipping. No problem with them. Have used them before - but I find a surprising number of Napa stores have closed - or sold out to O'Reilly Auto Parts which I am not impressed with. For 42.00 I have to believe C&G's regulator is made in Mexico or China. Local Car Quest has "Made in USA" clearly stamped on what appears to be a high quality part priced at 64.00 For less than 20.00 difference, If there is a problem, I can talk face to face with a local businessman, and pay no return shipping charges. I think that's the way I am going to go. Thanks for replying.
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| supereal | -- 10-22-2011 @ 2:47 PM |
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You are on the right track, Bill. Once you find a vendor you can trust, stick with them and let them know why. At our shop, we repair and service a wide variety of vehicles from Harleys to the big rigs. Over the years, we have sifted the wheat from the chaff and know where to go for both availability and quality. It is safe to say that most, if not all, parts today are made in Mexico or other non-US sources. I'm not saying they are all bad, but enough are, to present a serious problem when they are wrong, are bad out of the box, or are outrageously expensive. Too many are marked "Made In USA". At least the box was! To stay in business, we must have parts that are of high quality, as failure comes out of our pocket, even if the part is guaranteed.
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| 51f1 | -- 10-23-2011 @ 7:53 AM |
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All of the voltage regulators I have seen for my truck are Made In The USA! Richard
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| TomO | -- 10-23-2011 @ 9:01 AM |
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If you have an original Ford regulator, here is a link to a company that converts them to solid state for around $100. http://www.wiltonae.com/home/index.aspx Tom
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| silverchief | -- 10-26-2011 @ 2:15 PM |
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Thanks Tom Put my rebuilt generator back on. Wiring from regulator to it go into a loom, and come out at gen. Markings on the old wire are too faint to read. I used a voltmeter resistance test twice to be sure which wire was coming from field and which from ground...connecting field to the insulated terminal on the gen, and ground to the bare terminal. However, when I start engine the amp needle goes crazy. When I reverse them it sits quietly in the middle, but shows no charge from gen. I took my regulator off and to the generator rebuild people to have it tested. They said, "We can't get it to do anything!" Can my garage check it without it being on the car? How is that done? If not I will have to re-install it and drive my car the short distance there with just the battery firing the plugs - cuz my amp shows discharge under load (lights) but still no charge going to the batt. Grrrrrrrr!!
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| supereal | -- 10-26-2011 @ 5:52 PM |
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Bill: Without special equipment, it is virtually impossible to test or adjust a voltage regulator. Substitution of a known good regulator is the usual method. Voltage regulators operate by "buzzing" the relays, and setting them is critical. I would suspect that your generator was "polarized" incorrectly by the rebuilder, who may not know that the old Ford system is positive ground. You can run your car on battery only. Just disconnect the. "batt" terminal at the regulator.
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| TomO | -- 10-27-2011 @ 8:24 AM |
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When I use an ohmmeter to trace wires, I disconnect the wires at both ends. This prevents false readings due to back-circuits. The regulator terminals are ground, ARM, FIELD, BATT reading from left to right while facing the regulator. The ground wire is black with a red tracer and comes from the bottom side terminal of the generator. The ARM wire is yellow with a black tracer and come from the terminal on the back of the generator. The FIELD wire is black with a white tracer and comes from the top side terminal of the generator. To polarize the generator, disconnect the FIELD wire from the regulator and momentarily touch it to the BATT wire. Then reconnect the FIELD wire. To check the generator output, connect a jumper wire from the FIELD terminal of the generator to the ARM terminal of the generator. Increase RPMs to 1500, the ammeter should go to 30 amps and the voltage at the BATT terminal should be above 7 volts. Disconnect the jumper after getting the readings. If the regulator "won't do anything" the problem is usually the cutout relay is bad or one of the resistor blocks is bad. The cutout relay should be adjusted so that it picks between 6.2-6.5 volts. Tom
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| silverchief | -- 10-27-2011 @ 2:18 PM |
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Thanks guys. I'm going to print this stuff out to try again - and for future reference.
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| silverchief | -- 10-28-2011 @ 3:26 PM |
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Well finally! Some good news. Local club newsletter came yesterday with note that due to health problems, one of the club members was selling his cars, plus parts including generators and regulators. Turns out he rebuilds both. Visited him today, bought regulator, rebuilt generator (just in case)and new electric fuel pump (just in case) Using instructions from you guys, installed the regulator, polarized my generator, hooked the whole thing up - and what do you know - it works like a charm. Amp meter shows appropriate charge - under load and not. 7 1/2 volts at the battery at fast idle. PLUS - amp needle flutter I have been plagued with forever is 98% gone. Thanks for all your help.
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| TomO | -- 10-29-2011 @ 8:44 AM |
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It sounds like you have solved your problem and now can enjoy driving your car. Sorry to hear that one of your local club members is in poor health and had to sell his cars and parts. Tom
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