Ive been having a **** load of problems with the charging system in my 66. Its a long story but after having the alternator and battery tested to be good and the voltage regulator replaced the battery died again. At one point the alternator was charging the battery because I was able to start the car many times. The original problem was that the wiring was wrong and I fixed that and it seemed to work except the alternator was pumping 15.8A back to the battery which I guess was high so I changed the regulator. I never had it checked after that and not the battery died. I checked the voltage regulator and the connector is really lose.

My question is if the regulator was not making a good connection, would this cause the alternator to not charge the battery?

 

Most definitely......tighten that sucker down and hopefully it is an easy fix.

 

Before you tighten it down, please remove it and brush the area to get any possible rust off then coat the contact points with a little dielectric grease or if you dont have it then use regular axle grease.

I see you're in Kalifornia but depending on how close you live to the water this may be the issue. Here in Louisiana with our high humidity you'd better seal out every electrical connection with grease or else it will tarnish or corrode. No matter where you live, greasing electrical connections really helps allot in several areas.

 

thats exactly what happened to mine, battery was brand new, alternator worked, regulator was replaced. but the battery cables were corroded where they connected to the battery and they were only drawing 4 volts.

get a voltage regulator and check the battery voltage directly on the terminals, should be around 12, then check directly on the cables, should be exactly the same. (this is while the car is off and battery is charged)

 

ok thanks for the info. I fixed all the wiring at the regulator and the battery cables are actually new. I just need to get some battery charge to start the car. Ill probably go buy one of those jumper boxes later since this keeps happening and my old one died. Hopefully it will work this time.

 

jumper boxes are awesome. i always carrying one in the back of my car. even my new car. definitely a wise investment. just make sure you charge it every now and then so its not dead when you need it