404ninja

Hey guys, first post and first mustang.

I recently picked up a 72 Coupe and have been going through and replacing anything that looked not new and I am putting in a new Voltage regulator and found that the new one I purchased has 6 wires while the old one has 5. I assume there is an extra white one but I would love your opinions on this:



Thanks,
Brian

jlg2002

Your photo doesn't open correctly and if you have a true 72, your voltage regulator should have 4 terminals not 5 or 6. Electronic replacement units are the only replacement types.

Starfury

Link works fine for me.

He's talking about wires, not terminals. Both VR's have 4 terminals, but it looks like the replacement plug has an extra wire connected to one of the terminals. Not a big deal, just make sure all of the wires on your existing wiring harness get connected to the proper wires on the new plug, then cap the extra wire to keep it from grounding to anything.

Starfury

Also, that's not true. You can still get mechanical VR's, and most counter-dweebs won't know the difference. A good way to go about getting a replacement is to get the most expensive option available. BWD's R400 would be the correct electronic VR, with higher quality electronics and an epoxied board for corrosion resistance. It's noticeably heavier than the R400P (BWD's economy version) or most mechanical variants.

jlg2002

Thanks for the info. you still at NAPA?

jlg2002

Yep I had to open in a private window- I see what is being discussed now. I agree with your comments. One way to isolate (electrical tape) the unused wires back into the wire harness so they don't hit something metal and cause a spark.

404ninja

I ended up taping off one of the white wires and considered that an extra.

This is the new voltage regulator I picked up for the car and I also got the BWD connector that I picked up when I snapped a wire because the previous owner did an abysmal job of keeping everything together nicely and I am a bit clumsy.

I corrected the image issues:


I also suspect the car originally was an automatic 289 (currently a 302 with a t500), there are a lot of odd changes that I am trying to fix.

Starfury

Heh, haven't been there for years. I work at O'Reilly Auto Parts, but phasing that out as well while I get my Bachelor's. Each company has its ups and downs, but neither pays well enough for a career