IH 140 charging/discharging issues - newbie please advise

I'm trying to get the charging system working on my father-in-law's 140. I'm not sure what the year of manufacture was but it is a 12 Vdc system and it has an alternator. My father-in-law says it keeps running the battery down soon after it has been completely charged using a separate charger. I checked the alternator and the best I could tell the alternator has no output. We now have a new Delco Remy alternator but I wanted to better understand the electrical system and verify the tractor is wired correctly before ruining a new alternator. I looked for an ID number on the tractor that might help you know what vintage 140 we have. The only number I found was on the transmission case and it is 58353 followed by a U or J. It's hard to tell from the stamping in the metal. Any help would really be appreciated. I'll be glad to provide any info about the tractor or take any pictures that you need to determine what the correct charging system should be.

A couple of questions I had from looking at the wiring are: Does the charging indicator have to be connected in order for the charging circuit to be complete? It is not currently connected. Also, Is that a resistor attached to the rear of the alternator with the wires terminated at each end? Seems like it measured about 30 ohms. No sure what it was for.

To be fair, we need to know if the alternator is original Delco, or replacement newer style with an internal regulator. Looking at the alternator for numbers, or a photo will work. Diagnosis depends on this knowledge. It is very likely that the warning light is part of the problem, but info first. Jim
Link to Carter and Grunwald Diagrams.

I looked for an ID number on the tractor that might help you know what vintage 140 we have. The only number I found was on the transmission case and it is 58353 followed by a U or J.

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If that was on a plate attached to the bell housing and if you read the digits correctly, it would be 58353J. The "J" means it has a Rockford clutch, which is irrelevant to the current problem. That is 1976 and I believe that would have been long after IH changed to 12-volts and shortly after they changed to an alternator. You still need to verify as Janicholson said, but that is probably what you will find. There should be some numbers stamped into the alternator, but they may be harder to find and read than the serial number on the tractor.

I got the charging circuit working with the new
alternator and including the charging indicator.
Pre-start battery voltage was 11.7 Vdc/ running
voltage was 14.4 Vdc. I'm a little concerned that
later I measured the running voltage at the battery
terminals at 15.4 Vdc. That seems high to me??? I'm
worried about over charging the battery.

(quoted from post at 06:42:15 08/23/12) I got the charging circuit working with the new
alternator and including the charging indicator.
Pre-start battery voltage was 11.7 Vdc/ running
voltage was 14.4 Vdc. I'm a little concerned that
later I measured the running voltage at the battery
terminals at 15.4 Vdc. That seems high to me??? I'm
worried about over charging the battery.

Click to expand...

A fully charge 12 volt battery will be about 13.7-8 volts. And alternator will pur out while charging betweem 14 and 18 volts without hurting anything.

Rick