First it wouldn't even start. Upon two replies from this forum I ran a wire from the battery to the horn rely. Now it starts fine but won't charge. I replaced the alternator and the regulator. Then I found out that the battery was bad so I got a new one. However, none of these things worked. Someone suggested that the bad battery may have 'cooked' the new regulator I got. Any ideas?
A bad battery should not cook a voltage regulator. A bad alternator / generator will though. Verify that the wire you ran from the battery to the horn relay is on the correct post. It needs to be connected to the post that has one red wire on it now. So that post of the horn relay will have two red wires connected to it. One from the battery, the other from the alternator / generator. This is where the Factory Service Manual with the wiring diagrams is the most valuable tool a person can have ! DVal
I had the same problem on my truck a few years ago. A short fried my regulator. Fixed short and replaced regulator. It charged like a champ. Then every morning I would have a dead battery. Found out there is a diode in the altnator and it was bad. So then I broke down and replaced the battery, alternator, and regulator. No ploblems since. There are also two types of regulators. The old style of regulator has points that need to be adjusted. They new style is solid state and needs no adjustment. They still sell both types. The old style is double the price of the new style. I made the mistake of buying the more expensive one and had all kinds of charging problems. Mainly since I didn't now how to adjust it, so I tossed it and put in the newer and cheaper style. Good luck. Pete
