Hello! I am new to this forum. My 18 year old grandson just purchased a 1977 Maverick. Everything on it is original and it only has 20,226 miles on it. We do have a problem however and I was hoping someone could help us solve our problem. He has replaced the battery & alternator and it will not stay charged. Using a test light on the battery and it stays lit when the ignition is off. We also tested each and every fuse by taking them out one at a time. The light still stayed on. We also checked the wires to the alternator to make sure they were where they are supposed to be. Does anyone out there have any ideas what else we could check?
The grounds, voltage regulator battery cables and the dash light. Maybe consider switching to the GM one wire set up. My 73 Comet did the same thing and it was maddening, eventually I gave up and installed a GM 10SI and all has been well ever since. It even still lights my dash ALT light. I am a huge fan of removing the Ford set up and going simple.
Welcome aboard! I guess my 1st suggestion would be to drive it to where ever you purchased the alternator from. If it's AutoZone/Oreilly or somewhere like that, they can usually do a system check and find out the problem fairly quick (if they have someone that knows how to use their equipment). If not, a local auto electrical shop can check it but may charge $10-$20 for this diagnosis. I'm sure if we spend enough time on this forum you will get lots of suggestions to check and may eventually figure out the problem which we don't mind helping with but if you need to fix this quickly (and probably cheaper) go get it professionaly tested. Good luck with it and let us know how you come out.
That is usually the problem with the tuner boys that work in these auto part chains. They're a little lost when it comes to diagnostics that pre-date pluging the car into a reader. I would agree with Ray and drive the car over to where you bought the battery/alternator and see if they will or can check it for you. oh and also: from Northeast Pennsylvania
How are you hooking up the test light to determine whats up??? Voltage regulator is a common problem with these cars...Especially if it has been run with a dead or questionable battery.Definitely get the new alt tested again once you find the problem.If you pulled all the fuses testing for draw on the system and had no change.The only things left are the alternator, head light switch and ignition switch and possibly the starter solinoid...Need to isolate these items and see if the draw goes away...Good luck!!!
The regulator could be stuck causing the drain. Was that the problem that caused you to replace the battery and alternator to begin with? Or did this show up after the repair? If it has the old style regulator on it (tall box), change it. Or just replace it anyway....
77 Maverick won't stay charged. We replaced the regulator and yesterday we took the alternator back to Auto Zone and had it tested and they said it was testing positive. Totally stumped. One thins is the battery cables. Although worn looking it doesn't appear to have any broken wires. Went to one auto supply store and they said we wouldn't be able to find replacements anywhere. Now what?
You can still get new cables, just measure and find them in the store, they are universal. But that won't be your problem. If you disconnect the battery does it stay charged overnight? Is it when the car is off the battery runs down? It sounds like you were descibing a drain when the car is off, but I'm not sure... If it won't charge, there is another problem. If all is good (new) there are fusible links that could be bad, they are around the solenoid wire areas.
I am going to drop it off Monday to an electrical repair shop and see if they can locate the problem. I really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks so much! I will keep you posted on our progress.
I have had cable problems, in the past, where the cables looked just fine from the outside but from the crimped end, going up under the insulation for about a inch, the wire was green from corrosion.
Even if that is not the main source of the problem, green cables are bad and need to be replaced anyway. It will only get worse.
