My battery won't charge?

[Callook]

Alright so here's the story. I have a 73 Ford F250, 390 bone stock. Out of nowhere my battery won't charge. Alternator was showing a discharge, so I replaced it with a new one. Battery still discharging, so I replaced the voltage regulator. Still discharging.
So after a few hours of thumbing through wires looking for frayed ones and such, we decided to bypass the voltage regulator and see if the alternator was still working, if the dioede went out. Gauge shows full charge. So I don't get why the voltage reg. isn't working if it is brand new. Bad connection?
Can anybody help me, or has anybody had a similar problem?
Any help is appreciated, thanks ahead of time.
Trey

[Callook]

Originally Posted by Callook

I have a 73 Ford F250, 390 bone stock.

Oh yeah the only mod is the Mallory dual point dizzy. But that has been on the truck since I bought it.

[TheSilentChamber]

Make sure the new voltage regulator is wired up right, if its backwards it wont work.

[Callook]

Originally Posted by TheSilentChamber

Make sure the new voltage regulator is wired up right, if its backwards it wont work.

Thsi one is kind of an idiot proof model, it has a pig tail plug and you can't wire it up backwards.

[beef_bourito]

buy a new battery, it should only be around 100-200$. if it wont charge it could just be that it got old and the reaction wont reverse anymore.

[Callook]

Originally Posted by beef_bourito

buy a new battery, it should only be around 100-200$. if it wont charge it could just be that it got old and the reaction wont reverse anymore.

The battery isn't dead completly, I can charge with my plug in trickle charger overnight and drive it around all day. It's when I don't put the battery on the charger that it won't start. I don't want to kill my starter in this truck with a dead battery.

[curtis73]

Does it have an ammeter or voltmeter? If it has an amp meter, all of the juice has to go through it and sometimes they get corroded or just fail completely. The juice comes in and passes the coil showing a charge, but then doesn't make it out to the battery.

Test voltage on both sides of the ammeter. Take it off and test resistance across the posts.

[Callook]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Does it have an ammeter or voltmeter? If it has an amp meter, all of the juice has to go through it and sometimes they get corroded or just fail completely. The juice comes in and passes the coil showing a charge, but then doesn't make it out to the battery.

Test voltage on both sides of the ammeter. Take it off and test resistance across the posts.

I got a gauge that lookes like this: D \ | / C
It shows charge or discharge, that's it. I have a voltmeter that isn't installed, shoulkd I hook it up and see what it's getting? I don't know, I willing to try anything here. Maybe a miracle will happen?

[curtis73]

The charge/discharge meter is an ammeter. You should test it.

Another idea is take it to the big mega parts store. They have test equipment that takes you through an idiot-proof range of stuff like start the car, turn the lights on, wait 30 seconds, etc. In the end it will tell you what it thinks is wrong, then you can interpret that data however you want. If the little box says that the alternator is bad you can interpret that as a bad voltage reg, a bad ammeter, or a faulty ground or corroded connection that is preventing the battery from getting the proper juice.

Its also possible that its your starter. If its on the way out it will take more than normal amperage. The test will usually pinpoint that problem as well.

New voltage regulators are sometimes the worst. Double check it for proper operation too.