The first Ford Taurus was born at the Atlanta Assembly in Georgia in 1986. Aside from a couple short-lived hiatuses, including when the Atlanta plant was shuttered in 2006, it has enjoyed a long life. It has outlived not only its original factory but also its development brother, the Mercury Sable. Millions of units have been sold in many body styles and trim levels.
The Taurus’s voltage regulator is integrated with the alternator, and is not replaceable separately. The alternator is in a tricky location on this vehicle. The best way to locate it is to jack up the front of the Taurus and remove the front passenger-side tire. Look behind the fender lining. The alternator is the metallic apparatus that resembles a half of a wiffle ball. The accessory drive belt is routed around a pulley on the face of the alternator, and the alternator itself has two mounting bolts.
The voltage regulator prevents your Taurus’s alternator from making the engine’s hair stand on end with overvoltage. Without it, the alternator would produce unchecked electricity and either over- or under-charge the charging system. The regulator and alternator have direct lines of communication with the powertrain control module, which provides control and fault sensing services for the charging system.
