65 Belvedere II Charging Problems

[Paul Cotton]

Looking for some guidance on how to trouble shoot a charging problem on a 65 Belvedere II. I did find a bad alternator and changed that out, however it's still not charging. Does anyone know of a trouble shooting flow chart for this type of problem?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Ranger16]

Are all your connectors clean? I had some problems that turned out to be connectors with 47 years worth of oxidation. It made a world of difference once cleaned.

 

[miller]

Also look at your voltage regulator. It's the 'brains' for the alternator.

 

[Paul Cotton]

Are all your connectors clean? I had some problems that turned out to be connectors with 47 years worth of oxidation. It made a world of difference once cleaned.

I am pulling and cleaning the plugs on the firewall today. I was wondering about those myself. Thanks for the tip/reinforcement.

 

[Paul Cotton]

Also look at your voltage regulator. It's the 'brains' for the alternator.

I did change out the electronic VR, however I was wondering about the ground for it. Since the car has been freshly painted, the only ground the VR is getting is through the screws attaching it to the firewall. I think I scrape away a little paint around the screw holes and then reattach the VR. This should provide i better ground. (I hope)

 

[Paul Cotton]

Are all your connectors clean? I had some problems that turned out to be connectors with 47 years worth of oxidation. It made a world of difference once cleaned.

Cleaning the plugs today. I tried to hit them with sandpaper yesterday but that didn't work out very well. I will get some spray cleaner and try again today. Thanks for the tip

 

[miller]

Cleaning the plugs today.

You mean wire connectors? Sometimes, I've soaked mine in lemon juice for awhile, then wash with water.

 

[65hemi]

Is the replacement alternator single field or dual field? You likely need a single field. If the new alternator is a dual field it will not charge with the stock harness.

 

[Paul Cotton]

You mean wire connectors? Sometimes, I've soaked mine in lemon juice for awhile, then wash with water.

Hmm, never heard of using lemon juice, I guess the acid would clean them. I did go ahead and clean all of them with fine grit sandpaper and then used an aerosol contact cleaner to wash them out. Seems to have helped. Thanks for the tip on the lemon juice, I will file that one away for future reference.

 

[Paul Cotton]

Is the replacement alternator single field or dual field? You likely need a single field. If the new alternator is a dual field it will not charge with the stock harness.

I found the problem, the Voltage Regulator was bad and the el cheap-o VR i replaced it with was bad as well. I purchased a new one from NAPA and the charging problem cleared up. Thanks for the tip about dual field. I wasn't aware of that.

 

[Paul Cotton]

Also look at your voltage regulator. It's the 'brains' for the alternator.

Trouble turned out to be a bad VR.