ALT light

[Dunnburger1]

Okay 68 f100 390, alternator light came on about a month ago or so and I have chosen to ignore it. I've driven the truck 7 or 8 times since the light came on. Now when starting the motor it turns over very slowly. If the battery wasn't taking charge wouldn't it have died before now. I havent tested anything yet, but am thinking that the voltage regulator went bad and perhaps I am overcharging? just looking for some thoughts.

[heep70]

Test the system would be what I would do. Why play the guessing game. Costs to much.

[fordman]

if you take the alt and regulator to the parts store they can test them to see if they are bad or not. i have some used alt and reg around if you want them. they are good i had them tested.

[Dunnburger1]

Thanks for the suggestions, took it to Oreilly's and it was a bad voltage regulator. Works great now better starts and no more alt light. Seems to me that the battery took a long time to give up, thought if there really was a problem that the battery would pretty much die right away.
Thanks guys

[fordman]

being that it took so long for the battery to die meant that the voltage reg was probablt working but not enough to keep up with the demand after awhile. the battery just couldnt hold onto such a slight charge for that time period. if you would have had a older weaker battery it wouldnt have lasted as long as it did without getting a new regulator sooner. so its good that you had a good battery to carry you through until now. a older weaker battery wouldnt have been able to last that long with a under charge.