Engine stall

[Gos1]

Hi all,
I have a 70 Mach 1 with a 68 302 from a Dan Gurney Special Cougar. The car sat for around 10 years or so untouched. The motor was freshly rebuilt just prior to it being shelved, as life got in the way. I am trying to breathe life into it again. I got it running and idling relatively well. But it will not stay running if i remove the battery cables. I replaced the alternator with a rebuilt Motorcraft but the problem persists. Any idea what i can check at this point? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gos

[Rare Pony]

Did you try a volt meter on the terminals, engine running, with the cables connected. You should be getting around 14 volts at a fast idle. If not getting that many volts, could be the voltage regulator.

[1969jimmach]

Heres alink to a wiring diagram if it helps.

http://mach1club.com/showthread.php?tid=2263

[don29163]

take the plug off the regulator...there are 3 close together, run a jumper wire between the 1st and 3rd of those, that will by pass the regulator..it should charge 14 volts.

[turtle5353]

i would say the voltage regulator is at fault. Especially since you already put on a new alternator.
Kevin

[Gos1]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I will try all the suggestions out and let you all know how it goes.

This site rocks.

Gos

[Gos1]

Hi all,
I had a chance to work on the car today. Don i did what you suggested, i disconnected the plug from the voltage regulator and jumped from 1 to 3. Then i pulled the negative cable on the battery and the car stayed running. Now here is the strange part. I put a new VR in place, started the car, pulled the neg battery cable and the car stalled again. Any idea why jumping the plug would work but a new voltage reg would not? Could the Voltage Regulator be bad out of the box?

Thanks again everyone for your help. It is much appreciated.

Gos

[Oztrailer]

You shouldn't remove battery cables while the motor is running as it will damage the alternator. There should always be a load even if it is a dead battery.

[JTS71 Mach1]

I Agree with Oztrailer you should never pull the cables to check the system. Always use a volt meter accross the posts! I've seen alot of people pull the cable and get away with it. I've personaly, blown a perfectly good alternator that way. So you should always have a load. As for the vr being bad it's possible but not likely. The volt meter will show if it s' putting out or not. JTS 71 Mach1

[Rare Pony]

I drove a 74 Plymouth Duster once without a battery. I worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington DC and went out to my car after work and someone had stolen my battery. My boss and her husband were driving by and stopped to help. I asked him to give me a jump start by hooking the jumper cables to my battery cables; he looked at me like I was stupid! Well, I got it started, put the positive cable inside of a paint roller cover to insulate it and drove off. The old man was scratching his head while watching me drive off. I drove for over an hour in rush hour traffic and made it home to Virginia (I was being real careful with the clutch that day, didn't want to stall it).

The alternator survived the trip just fine, but would not recommend doing this as it could destroy the alternator.