Haunted Rally Gauges.

[FY1 RT SE]

Grounds or more correctly the lack of, along with marginal wiring (it was that way the day it left the factory plus add 35 years of deterioration) can cause all sorts of squirrelly problems, now add to that when a car is repainted many of the areas that Chrysler never intentionally painted for grounding purposes are covered over with paint and you have the potential for all sorts of problems.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Guys, this has really been some great reading.  I appreciate your opinions. Just to fill you in more, the second voltage limiter I installed was a used one. With the same result as the first one that was on there, that's why I wanted to look elsewhere for the problem. My alternator is about 2 years old, but the voltage regulator could be original for all I know. I've never touched it, so maybe it is loose or something. Also, I will check out the wiring more.

  Thanks,

  Mike

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I'm just thinking out loud here now, but I really don't think this is a bad ground, or loose wire issue. If it were, I would expect my gauges to shut down, rather than spike up. Since I have 2 voltage limiters doing the same thing, I really want to look at my voltage regulator and alternator better. To be continued...


  Mike

[ShelbyDogg]

"FY1RTSE's thought on a poor ground to the Voltage Limiter"
 You're right FY1RTSE, I forgot about that limiter being grounded behind the cluster, I was thingking guages.  There is so much grounded metal on that dash assembly with sheet metal screws holding the aluminum guage cluster that I never thought about it not being grounded. And I agree too that many bare metal ground spots are painted over, that could cause problems. On my car, I have a separate ground wire running to my regulator and use that nut behind the firewall trick.
Rob

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I went on a fact finding mission today. I looked under the hood at that voltage regulator that I have never touched. It definitely isn't original, but when I grabbed on to it, I could move it. Not a good sign.  I removed it from the firewall, only to see rust where it would make contact with body ground. I cleaned it all up, and tightened it. That definitely could have been a problem eventually, but I still don't think it solves my problem for now. I think if the voltage regulator lost contact with ground for a second, it would just tell the alternator to shut down, rather than spike up. That's all I got for now. I'll see what happens on my next trip. Thanks for listening to all of this. 

  Mike

[FY1 RT SE]

I went on a fact finding mission today. I looked under the hood at that voltage regulator that I have never touched. It definitely isn't original, but when I grabbed on to it, I could move it. Not a good sign.  I removed it from the firewall, only to see rust where it would make contact with body ground. I cleaned it all up, and tightened it. That definitely could have been a problem eventually, but I still don't think it solves my problem for now. I think if the voltage regulator lost contact with ground for a second, it would just tell the alternator to shut down, rather than spike up. That's all I got for now. I'll see what happens on my next trip. Thanks for listening to all of this. 
  Mike

Mike

Actually, if you lose the the reference point (solid to floating ground), due to a bad connection then 0-12v may become 4v -16v so the alternator could put out more voltage for the time that the reference point is unstable.

[ShelbyDogg]

Yeah Mike, Like I said i my post above, The Challenger that I just bought had a regulator putting out a constant 17-18vdc.  Enough to kill a new battery and guages if left unrepaired. My guages are all fried.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Wow,
   Thanks guys.    Hopefully cleaning up the voltage regulator to ground connection will have solved my problem.

  Mike