# 5610 ford alternator wiring



## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

ive been working on trying to figure the wiring out on it. i replaced the voltage regulator. but i seem to be having 12 volts with switch on to the ground wire by alternator.with switch off it has continuity with ground. i hate to put a 12 volt wire to ground. when i start the tractor i have 14.4 volts on ground wire. aslo the sense wire and yellow wire have 12 volts and are tied together with a butt connector going to the regulator terminal.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Hardknocks, welcome aboard the tractor forum.

1. Starting at 12 o'clock on your alternator picture, with the terminal you call "field" - The red wire with yellow stripes goes to this terminal.

2. Going clockwise, there is no wire connected to "What's this for" terminal. On my alternator, that is labeled "AC Tap", which is probably a point to measure the AC voltage generated by the alternator?? I really don't have a clue!

3. Going further clockwise, the BLK terminal is ground. I have two black wires spliced together (part of original Ford wiring) connected to this terminal.

4. Going further clockwise, The "BAT" terminal has a 10 gauge red wire connected to it.

5. Going further clockwise, to the terminal you call "yellow & red", connect the blue wire with red stripe to this terminal.

Hope this all makes sense to you. I'm using my alternator as a guide. It's been working fine for a long, long time. Post back if the above doesn't work out for you.


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

I attached a screen shot from the Shop Manual to show the connections between the shown regulator and the alternator. There will probably be connectors on the way, so the colours may not be the same all the way. It shows what goes where, anyhow.

The A/C tap is for sending pulses to a tachometer. If yours is cable-driven, the tap is not in use.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

If your wiring color codes differ from mine, the field connection is the green wire coming out of the regulator. Check continuity.


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

this is picture of mine wired. the black wire hanging loose has continuity with ground but when you turn key on it has 12 volts. then where you see i wrote splice on picture it has continuity with red sense wire and yellow wire. so is all this correct. it does charge now just the way it is hooked up but the black wire is just hanging and afraid to connect it to the ground terminal of alternator since there is 12 volts on it when key is on. or hate to fry the new regulator. it is putting out like 16 volts on high idle and idle 13.7 *HACK* it is wired the way your diagram shows exept the black ground has 12 volts.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

OK, I took the black wires off the ground terminal and made some measurements:

Key Off: Resistance 120 - 125 ohms to ground
Key On: Voltage 2.5V - 3V DC to ground

There is obviously a load on the black wires goes to ground through the black wires. With 125 ohms resistance, current flow will be small. Are you using a circuit checker instead of a multimeter? I re-connected the black wires to ground, started the tractor, everything behaved normally.


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Hardknocks said:


> ... the black wire hanging loose has continuity with ground but when you turn key on it has 12 volts....


That is the way it should be.

Think of a bulb that you connect to (+) at a 12 V battery on one side, and the other side to (-) at the same battery. The bulb will glow.

If you disconnect the lead from (-) at the battery, the bulb will go out. If you then measure the voltage between that lead and (-), you will read 12 V. That is because you have continuity from battery (+), through the lead to the bulb, through the bulb and then through the lead that was on (-) before.

In your case the bulb is the regulator and it is grounded through the alternator when the key switch is off (yellow wire disconnected from (+)). With the key switch on, the yellow wire is connected to (+), and you will read 12 V at the disconnected black wire at the alternator. If you connect the black wire to ground, the regulator will turn on (same as the bulb glows, in the scenario above).

To be sure, trace the black wire from alternator to regulator to make sure it is not connected to anything else than the regulator's black wire.
16 V indicates that the alternator is full-fielded (there is no regulating) and you will eventually boil the battery.


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

I forgot:

Do all conecting/disconnecting at the alternator with the battery disconnected.


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

That's what I was thinking on black wire that it completed the circuit because when tractor running and checking voltage on black wire with it hooked up to ground no voltage. If you say the regulator is full fielded. How do I diagnose problem or fix it. The battery has 13volts .. oh and by the way. Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it. Tremendously


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Hardknocks said:


> That's what I was thinking on black wire that it completed the circuit because when tractor running and checking voltage on black wire with it hooked up to ground no voltage. If you say the regulator is full fielded. How do I diagnose problem or fix it. The battery has 13volts .. oh and by the way. Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it. Tremendously


Oh, sorry. The full fielding (16 V) is when the black wire is not connected. With the black wire connected, the regulator will be turned on and the alternator output should be regulated properly.

And as I wrote, battery disconnected when dealing with the connections.


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

i have removed the whole engine harness and it has been wrapped with electrical tape from end to end so im going to tear into it and see what i find. in fact thinking about having one made at Porch electric . i want this correct


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

ok another question. the 2 wires that are spliced toigether going to the regulator terminal of the alternator. one wire is actually coming through the sensor on the intake. is this correct and the other wire from the sensor on the intake is going to the idiot light. is that correct. i cannot find a schematic for the 5610


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

I extracted the wiring diagrams from the Shop Manual, and uploaded to the Manuals section:
https://www.tractorforum.com/manuals/ford-10-series-wiring-diagrams.477/


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

Thank you. Hope it has my open station. 5610 in it


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

hate to say this but there is no 5610 open station tractor wiring diagram in the download


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Hardknocks said:


> ok another question. the 2 wires that are spliced toigether going to the regulator terminal of the alternator. one wire is actually coming through the sensor on the intake. is this correct and the other wire from the sensor on the intake is going to the idiot light. is that correct. i cannot find a schematic for the 5610


I believe the sensor is a switch for the air filter warning lamp. I looked at different diagrams. Wirings and components differs, depending on what function the instrument lamps are supposed to have.

You need a proper wiring diagram.


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## Hardknocks (Sep 8, 2020)

Hacke said:


> I believe the sensor is a switch for the air filter warning lamp. I looked at different diagrams. Wirings and components differs, depending on what function the instrument lamps are supposed to have.
> 
> You need a proper wiring diagram.


I agree


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## John Liebermann (Sep 17, 2018)

My 544 had alternator/regulator issues and over a summer cost me 1000$ to determine why the engine was not running correctly. ??

Finally I installed a new one wire alternator, one with an enclosed regulator, cut a passel of wires out threw away a bran new regulator and now I have a good working system.


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## Gabelara (May 30, 2021)

Hardknocks said:


> View attachment 61741
> this is picture of mine wired. the black wire hanging loose has continuity with ground but when you turn key on it has 12 volts. then where you see i wrote splice on picture it has continuity with red sense wire and yellow wire. so is all this correct. it does charge now just the way it is hooked up but the black wire is just hanging and afraid to connect it to the ground terminal of alternator since there is 12 volts on it when key is on. or hate to fry the new regulator. it is putting out like 16 volts on high idle and idle 13.7 *HACK* it is wired the way your diagram shows exept the black ground has 12 volts.


Does the black wire labeled "ground" connect to the negative terminal on alternator?


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