1841 alt

Hi We have a Ford Model 1841 with a diesel motor. We have a GM 1 wire alternator to put on
it. COuld someone tell me how to wire it up ,which wires go where.It had a alt on it and it
quit working sw so we got a new one and it worked for a while than quit so maybe it is not
wired up correctly
Thank you

I hope this is a joke/troll question, but I'll answer it anyway.


It's a 1 wire alternator.... wire from alternator to ( suspense.... ) the BATTERY!

sound guy no it was not a joke Iam not familiar with alt generators I do pretty good. I thank you for replying to a dumb question but at least now I know

If you want to try to wire it as 3 wire, the alternator will initially turn on at a lower rpm. 3 wire alts typically turn on and start charging any time the rpm is over 400. 1 wire alts typically won't turn on initially untill rpm hits 900-1800 depending on module used, but then once turned on will charge as long as rpm is over 400.

IE.. on a 1 wire, after startup, you just gun the throttle and then the charge picks up.

To wire it as 3 wire, do the following on a gm delco 10/12SI

charge stud is already wired to battery hot.

there will be a (usually) rubber cap covering 2 male spade terminals. marked 1 and 2

make a short wire with a ring terminal and female spade. jump #2 to the charge stud. this is the voltage sense line. In a 1 wire setup it SHOULD be jumped internally, but this is just extra insurance.

Now, since this is a diesel, we can get away with a few different wireings for the #1.

if you still have a working charge lamp in the dash, it is usually wired from key switched on side to the vreg armature. you could instead wire it to #1. key on, lamp glows, when alt turns on, lamp out.

if no charge lamp, just a wire from key on/hot to #1. This works for a diesel with a manual kill, not an electric kill via key, and not for a gasser... for those, you have to have a diode or 194 or similar lamp inline from key to #1 to provide some isolation.

I gotta second the 3 wire vs 1 wire.

Neighbor had a 12 volt JD backhoe someone put a 1 wire alt on. could NOT get it to charge even though everything tested fine separately. turned out the alt needed to be woken up at too high rpm and the backhoe couldn't do it.

changed to a 3 wire and charges fine now

Agree.. I have a friend with an older JD B, older than my 50. Mine has the 7 or 8 amp dc generator.. his was swapped to an alt. the old B engine didn't make enough rpm at full kilter to turn his alt on... 3 wire it was..

I know they make lower rpm turn on modules now.. but considering the price for a basic 3 wire is cheaper.. and is usually around 30$ with swap.. how can you go wrong..

The new one wire alternators from NAPA charge at a lower rpm than some of the others. I have had no problems with the new NAPA ones, they start charging at an idle on a cub and cut back as they should too.
Boss