1981 Ford 4610 Voltage Regulator Change

[Jerry/MT]

The voltage regulator on our 1981 Ford 4610 went out on us and overcharged the battery,ruining it. I went to our local auto electric shop and the owner had a voltage regulator that attached directly to the existing alternator and made the connection with it. The only thing I had to do was to get the ignition switchable wire from the firewall and run it to the new regulator. The regulator was $32 and three feet of wire and a spade connector and we were back in business. This is a pretty easy fix for anybody that has problems with their charging system and has a regulator that is remote from the alternator. In our case, our wiring was all kluged up by the original owner who broke a battery and had the acid destroy the main harness connector. The charging system has always been a problem and we finally got it fixed last year only to have this VR failure occur.
I could have saved myself a world of trouble if I had know these types of Alternator mounted voltage regulators existed. With the screwed up wiring on our tractor this would have been an easy fix to get the charging system working again.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Here's a picture. Unfortunately, the loader frame is in the way but you get the picture. The yellow wire is from the key switch and the rest of the wires are underneath the box and attached to the appropriate alternator connections.