jpartington Posted August 5, 2015 Report Posted August 5, 2015 I have a 52 b-3-d and it is not charging the battery. I believe it is a regulator issue. With the cover off the regulator and the truck running, I could not get the circuit breaker to close. But when we manually closed the circuit it did make the generator work, and the battery did charge. What could be wrong? Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted August 5, 2015 Report Posted August 5, 2015 A factory correct # NOS Autolite regulator for your truck matched to the generator... never used or tampered with should fix your charging issues. Some of the now days new regulators are meant to last maybe a couple months! But 1st check ....... Polarize the charging system. Briefly (1/2 second) jumper BAT to the ARM terminals on the regulator. Should see a brief spark flash. Check that the regulator is well grounded to the body and generator. A quick test of the generators output is to ground the "F" terminal of the regulator to a regulator mounting screw and slowly raise the engine RPM while watching the amp meter and or volt meter connected to the battery.. reading should imediately rise. Do it just for a few seconds. No amp or volts reading increase = bad generator or wiring. 1 Quote
Merle Coggins Posted August 5, 2015 Report Posted August 5, 2015 I recently had the same issue with my generator. It wouldn't put out enough current to close the circuit breaker contacts, but if I manually closed them, or jumped across them, it would charge. I replaced the regulator but it didn't help. When I took the generator into my local shop they showed me where the armature had slung out a bunch of solder. The Armature is bad and will need to be replaced. Merle 1 Quote
jpartington Posted August 7, 2015 Author Report Posted August 7, 2015 So even though we manually closed the circuit breaker and the generator charged the system, the generator could still be the problem? Quote
jpartington Posted August 7, 2015 Author Report Posted August 7, 2015 Also I have replaced all the wiring in that system already. Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted August 7, 2015 Report Posted August 7, 2015 Do the field ground test as mentioned to see the MAX AMPS out put.. If the amp guage reads 40/ 45 amps or higher doubt very much anything is wrong with the generator. All my 1946-52 MoPars have stock charging systems. All work fine and other than a new regulator on a couple of them over the years all charge the batterys just fine. Quote
jpartington Posted August 7, 2015 Author Report Posted August 7, 2015 Another question just out of curiousity I have called around and found that it is cheaper to buy a new rebuilt generator then having mine rebuilt, if the generator is bad and I do end up buying a different one, I have read that I may have to match up some numbers from the old one to get a new one. Is this true? Quote
HanksB3B Posted August 7, 2015 Report Posted August 7, 2015 Another question just out of curiousity I have called around and found that it is cheaper to buy a new rebuilt generator then having mine rebuilt, if the generator is bad and I do end up buying a different one, I have read that I may have to match up some numbers from the old one to get a new one. Is this true? That's o.k. but pay the core charge and keep your original, Trust me, Hank Quote
jpartington Posted August 7, 2015 Author Report Posted August 7, 2015 Ya I was thinking that would be a good idea. I plan on testing it today then I'll go from there. Quote
jpartington Posted August 11, 2015 Author Report Posted August 11, 2015 Could a bad generater also drain the battery? If I leave the battery hooked up and come back to it the next day, it is dead. Quote
TodFitch Posted August 11, 2015 Report Posted August 11, 2015 Could a bad generater also drain the battery? If I leave the battery hooked up and come back to it the next day, it is dead. A bad cut-out section in the regulator could cause that issue, not the generator itself. Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted August 20, 2015 Report Posted August 20, 2015 A automotive electrical shop should be able to do it quickly so you could get it repaired. Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 It seems you might need some real shop help with this charging system issue. Quote
jpartington Posted September 2, 2015 Author Report Posted September 2, 2015 It was the voltage regulator. Put in a new one and it all works great now. Quote
HanksB3B Posted September 2, 2015 Report Posted September 2, 2015 Where did you find it and how much did it cost ? Thanks, Hank Quote
ggdad1951 Posted September 2, 2015 Report Posted September 2, 2015 Where did you find it and how much did it cost ? Thanks, Hank VR's can be bought at NAPA, VPW, O'Reilly's or anywhere automotive parts can be purchased (at least in MN, no idea on CA) Quote
HanksB3B Posted September 2, 2015 Report Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) I have a couple of them myself and actually they were a find from "Istanbul Turkey" (the furthest sourced part with the exception of my Hand Crank from Davin in Australia) they have the "original" FLD, ARM, BAT stamped into the housing...nice... (oh god I'm starting to sound like Mark...) help ! Hank Edited September 2, 2015 by HanksB3B 2 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.