69 Ford Wagon Electrical Issue
 

Hello all,

I have a 69 Ford Country Sedan wagon that I recently purchased that has been sitting since the 90's. The wagon is complete, has low miles, and was running well when parked. I am in the process of trying to get it running but seem to have run into an electrical issue. When I hooked up a good battery for the first time and tried to turned the key I immediately noticed smoke coming from behind the alternator (the starter did not engage when I turned the key). I unhooked the battery as quickly as I could and decided to removed the alternator and inspect it. Once I got it off I noticed that the wires going to the alternator were bare, I dont know if the wire casings melted or were already worn down due to age. I kinda thought maybe one of the wires was grounding out which was causing the problems, so I re-wrapped all the wires going to the back of the alt. I installed the alternator again and hooked up the battery and again smoke started coming from the back of the alternator. I also noticed that the wires heading to the starter relay were super hot. I took the alternator to Autozone and had them test it an their machine said it was no good. So I purchased a new alternator and installed it and sure enough the exact same thing happened.

I have inspected all the wiring from the alternator, to the starter relay, to the starter itself and haven't found any other issues. Could a bad starter relay cause this? Any help would be appreciated.

Something you can try,
Remove all the wires from the alternator being careful not to let any touch any metal on the vehicle. Carefully wrap the heavy wire from the alt that goes to the battery via the post on the relay so it can't make contact with anything. If you get the same result when trying to start it look for wires that may have been chewed by visitors. The car should start even without the alt in the system as long as all the wires have been removed from the alt.

Thanks for the suggestion. I know the alternator isn't needed to start the car, but I wasn't sure if the wiring still needed to be hooked up.

I would suggest starting by getting a new solenoid. If the engine did not turn over
then the voltage was being feed back through the solenoid to the alt.
If your a Ford guy, you know when the volt\amp is low the solenoid will click
did you hear that? If not then the internal circuit might be faulty..
I'm not saying this is the problem, but could be one.
Something else you should think about is the CCA of the battery... back then an
alt might be 65 amp and batteries in the 330 CCA range.. today batteries are in the
700 CCA + - I would really take a good look at the wires, make sure all connections
are tight.

I unhooked the wiring to the alternator this weekend and tried to start it again. Turning the key does nothing. No cranking, no clicking, nothing. All the other electrical items on the car work though with the key in the on position.

With the vehicle in Park and the parking brake applied, if you jump from the battery cable side of the relay to the small wire on the relay, it should close the relay and cause the starter to operate. Does it attempt to start ? If so, might be a good idea to check the neutral safety switch.
If not, make sure the relay has a good ground where it is mounted to the fender well. Over time the sheet metal gets corrosion between it and the rest of the metal of the vehicle.

When you bought the car was it running, or are you saying it was running when it
was parked?
I hate to ask this, but have you checked the Neutral safety switch?
It could be that your gear selector is off a bit causing the circuit to remain open..
I know this is all like throwing spaghetti against the wall, but one of the hardest
problems to solve is Electrical
On a 74 Dart I have, going back a few years now, it got to the point where the car
would not start.. With the help of the internet and a gentleman, the problem ended
up being the "half year" use of a seatbelt interlock device.. (**** heads in washington)j
the part was not even mentioned in any of the repair books.. well a clip of a wire
and remove of the part and that problem was solved..
Best

They said it was running when it was parked years ago. I haven't considered the neutral safety switch. I am going to try a few more things tomorrow and see if I have any luck.

good luck