[joeyspada]

I recently bought a 65 Mustang and we can not get the alternator to work. We replaced it with a new one, checked all the wiring, the regulator, battery and it is still not working. The engine was a 6 cylinder but was replaced with a 302. Don't know if that matters. The guy I bought it off had it for a couple of years but only drove it like 200 miles. He said he used to put it on a trickle charger because he did not drive it for a month or 2 at a time. He also put a quick disconnect on the battery so he did not have to pull it out of the car. All the wiring seems okay. Is there supposed to be a wire that goes directly to the ignition? He had a Elderbrock carb put in and he had the electric choke wired to a ground so we found power under the dash so it would run. Could this cause a problem with the alternator? We are at a standstill. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jonk67]

These should help you, see if your wiring matches, any idea if it was originally a generator system converted to alt.?
Index of /~djhamma/wiring/1965
Jon

[joeyspada]

Thanks for the info. I printed them all out and will get back into it tomorrow after work. Thanks again!

[Print Dad]

Originally Posted by joeyspada

I recently bought a 65 Mustang and we can not get the alternator to work.
Is there supposed to be a wire that goes directly to the ignition? He had a Elderbrock carb put in and he had the electric choke wired to a ground so we found power under the dash so it would run. Could this cause a problem with the alternator? We are at a standstill. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello joeyspada,
First i hope the diagrams help you out.
Next...hiow do you know the alternator is not working? Did you check it with a meter?
If you don't have a meter what we used to do is start the car....disconnect the battery and the car should stay running. This is not good to do on newer cars but it will tell you if the alternator is putting out voltage.

Next issue..... I am a bit confused about the choke wires. There should be one wire (usually black) that is grounded to the carb itself.
The second wire (usually red) goes to a 12 volt source. This source should be a keyed source. Meaning that it only has power when the key is in the run position.

If you use the fuse block...one side of the fuse is live all the time and if you are running to that side, with your wire is constantly live, which will do 2 things
1. - Drain the battery and 2. - Could burn out the choke.

Make sure that the positive wire (red) to the choke is dead when the key is off.
If you you are unsure, put an alligator clamp on the end of the red wire and run it to the battery when the car is running. You must remove it when you shut down for any length of time over 1/2 hour. This is not a good fix, but it may help you see if the choke is killing the battery.

Hope this helps........ Print Dad

[Jonk67]

"....disconnect the battery and the car should stay running"
I hate to disagree on this but I would not do this, it puts an instant full load on the alt. and VR that may burn one of them out, or the wires, seen this done too many times working at an auto parts store for 8 yrs. The proper way to check is with a meter or simply remove the alt. and batt. and take them to a parts store and have them load tested, it's free.

PrintDad is correct the choke hot should go to a keyed source so it only heats up the choke spring when you start the car. The easiest way to run this wire is to the stator (STA) post on the back of the alt. as ford did in later years, that's how I have mine wired and the choke works fine.
Jon

[Veronica]

Hello. Something that one should always keep in mind is, if the alternator is not charging the battery,
A) the alternator is good
B) the regulator is good
C) all of the associated wiring is good
D) the battery is good
can not possibly all be true.

I would begin by starting the car and checking the alternator output at the positive battery post with a volt meter. The voltage reading should be something in the 14 1/2 volt range, give or take a little. If the reading is the same with the car running at 2500 rpms as it is with the car at idle, something is wrong with the charging system, and that something is going to be one of the four aforementioned components. If the readings are what they should be, your problem lies elsewhere, probably a draw of some sort. If the readings are not what they should be, read through this and see if that helps.
The Care and Feeding of Ponies: Alternator and charging system