does your alt guage actually move?

[1971ford]

does anyonse Altameter guage work? ive never ever seen a bump with a working alt guage. kinda interesting

just curious

[Thunderfoot]

Most all the ones on mine will move just about a needle width under normal use. Only when the battery is about dead or you have almost everything on will they move about 3-5 needle widths...
The alternators in these old trucks are not very big, around 45 amps for most and 65 amps for the high output ones. The higher amp alternator you have the more the gauge works a bit better. I put a 100 amp alternator in my mustang and when I have everything on it will move about 1/8 of the range on the charge side and before with the 45A it was the 3-5 needle widths off the center line...

[ToughOldFord]

Barry explained these Ford alt gauges pretty well I think:

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... ge#p111255

[Joshpow]

I've never paid mine attention to see its minute movement. Don't know myself, but I don't think mine does.

[flyboy2610]

Mine never moves. I though it was broken!

[green68250]

I have three trucks and none of them has a guage that moves a noticable amount. I have test driven many a bump and in only a few have I seen a working alt guage. I always thought that was the way it was and I wasn't going to try and do anything about it. As long as it stays in the middle and looks like it is doing something than its good enough for me.

Corbin

[fordman]

when the needls moves to d then you have a problem.

[1971ford]

when the needls moves to d then you have a problem.

that would mean that the superglue came un-done from holding the needle in place from the factory

[Kurt Combs]

Leave your headlights on (by accident) and drain the battery to zero, and the guage will move to the right as chargine and then center again when the battery is charged. Don't ask how I know this. You should also notice a little move movement when you start the truck.

[tah0511]

i have a 67 and 68 f100 both my trucks have lights instead of gauges

[kaptnkaos]

After this weekend's alternator/regulator surgery, I am confident mine don't work at all ...
It showed it was charging with a direct short that drained my battery and left me stuck on the side of the road overnight...
It is going to be replaced by an aftermarket volt meter...

KaptnKA S

[my1stf-100]

i dont understand why the charging sys are so bad in our trucks i mean i got so tired of it that i ran all new wiring under my hood and new wire loom i think the hardest thing is when you buy your truck and someone had wiring going every were and and you look at it and say what the

[Dragon]

After this weekend's alternator/regulator surgery, I am confident mine don't work at all ...
It showed it was charging with a direct short that drained my battery and left me stuck on the side of the road overnight...
tnKA S

Your gauge showed you were charging and it drained? The yellow and red wires are crossed that feed the gauge and return the power.

[Dragon]

i dont understand why the charging sys are so bad in our trucks i mean i got so tired of it that i ran all new wiring under my hood and new wire loom i think the hardest thing is when you buy your truck and someone had wiring going every were and and you look at it and say what the

So very true I had my truck die today and it was the chopped up mess where all the wires met by the VR and Alternator and head back into the truck. Every wire was a mess and only one was tied to the right place. Our looms are messed up by people thinking what the F*** is wrong I must have a short or something my truck won't start when 99 percent of bad starting problems and poor charging problems are corrosion on the battery terminals and guess where else. Anyplace where the contacts and connectors are exposed to air. Corrosion is not just rust It forms when any two different metals come in contact with each other. Caused by the movement of electrons from one metal to the other it only gets worse when electricity is sent through those two metals. Don't get fancy Brass battery terminals, Brass is not agreeable with Lead or Sulphuric Acid so use lead terminals. Use nickel plated terminals elsewhere as much as possible. Being an electrician I use No-Ox (No Oxidation) inhibitor on my permanent connections and especially on Aluminum to copper connections or copper to any crimp connector. The nice barrel crimp connector you use is tin or copper with a zinc or tin coating because they are slow to corrode. That black No-Ox will stop them from corroding at all.

The system in our trucks is simple and works good. They get messed up by good intentions and no knowledge. Kudos to Fordification for providing the wiring diagrams. Lose the mechanical VR and go with a solid state, Mechanicals get water and dirt inside them. We used to take the mechanical VR apart and clean the points and adjust the VR. Why because we had to!

Modern cars seal almost every connector on the car. Even where the wires go into the back of the connectors they use Oxidation inhibiting silicone grease to seal out moisture. The old yellow grease Ford used starting with the Duraspark connectors worked but it broke down over time and actually made the plastic of the connectors break down. Apply the same thoughts that the Factory did later to your old wiring connections and they will be trouble free almost until you give the truck to your child.

Every gauged truck needs the fuses installed to protect the Ammeter. A 4 amp or even a 3 will work but both legs will have to protected. Later vehicles used fusible links. Unless your gauge was hit with an non-fused short the gauge will only fail from the needle bearing getting dirt in it.

Our Wiring has lasted in most these trucks for 35+ years. Most of our engines have not. Radiators about 15 before repairs, interior plastic about 10 some make it 20 So Ford did not do a bad job of wiring these trucks.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Dragon,

The needle don't move... it is just above the center line all the time...
I assumed that it was working, but when my battery went totally dead because of a direct short to the engine block I figured that it wern't workin'...
I don't know why it ain't workin', but I'm gonna install a volt gauge instead of an amp gauge...
A volt gauge tells you exactly what the alternator is putting out.
I already have the one I bought for my bus, so I am gonna put that one in the pickup and get another one for the bus.
I have a white F600 instrument panel in the truck now so I am gonna replace all of the stock gauges with some nice after market ones eventually.

KaptnKA S