I just had my alternator go out . In addition my dash light didn't work and it is part of the circuit for the charging system to work..

Anybody else heard of this?

We had a similar situation with my parents Tempo (their choice, not mine), about 10 years ago. 3 different dealerships looked at it, and it wasn't until we escalated it to Ford's customer service that they finally found the problem... 3 alternators later, within 2 years.

yep, light no work, no charge.

Technically the light is required to supply the excitation voltage to the Alt. field winding. You could do it with a resistor but that would be dumb. my 928 had a resistor in parallel to the bulb incase the bulb burned out.

That's what my mechanic said too. He explained the entire process. Funy that a dash light would serve dual function.

Rich at WCR: several thread address this. Hope it helps...

Replace that light with an LED, and the alternator will quit working too

Had an open amp gauge that caused mechanic to change alternator, jumped around it & started charging

Yes

How can you test the connection to the alt gen light? If the light is on and stays on, then its the generator right?

Right. When the ignition is turned to on and the light doesn't come on was the problem. The test for this is whether the alt light is getting 12v or not; if there is power and no light then the bulb must be replaced.

Thanks. I guess I still need to change my alternator.

Question: Is the alt light bulb the same as the oil light bulb ?

Same kind and voltage.

BTW, if the voltage regulator is not plugged in, you won't get an alternator light and the alternator won't charge. Don't ask how I know that...

--DD

Will the alternator light work if the VR is bad ?

Depends on what has gone bad in it.

--DD

[mal]function, seems like... so is there also a fuse in the circuit?

Yep. Also you need a two watt bulb or more to get the alternator stated. If you look at the wiring diagram it is one of those clever engineering feats in which the gen light is initially used to bootstrap the windings on the alternator. The way they set it up it warns you of more than one problem using no electronics - just a 2 watt bulb!

Yes. Generally 'does the red light illuminate when the key is turned to the first position?' Is the first ? asked with charging issues. Generally......but not always.

Bumping an older thread here....

If there in alt light (missing) will alt charge? I see a bare blue wire behind the gauge....must have disconnected from whatever it was connected to.

WHat can I tie it to if there is no light?

Car was charging and now not....

I'm confused Why not just reattach the wire? The alternator needs the lamp or resistor, something for it to start charging.

Here's the mess I'm looking at....turns out the loose blue wire was just extra.....in the pic is the alt light in the wrong socket? Look like i'm short somewhere....the ebrake light works.

Click to view attachment

Also interestingly, the alternator hums now when I didnt notice it before....is that normal? Hum stops when I unplug the VR. Is alt going bad?

Click to view attachment

Two bulbs in the wrong socket locations

This helps....there should be another bulb next to#3 on combo gauge ?? the open hole

Looks like this now

Click to view attachment

Closer, but you still have the oil lamp and gen lamp switched.