Amp Meter Pegged when Running

[Bullitt-]

About all that's left is the wiring, the voltage regulator senses the state of the battery & asks for charge from the alternator, if the wiring to the regulator is bad it senses a low battery thus energizing the alt.   Test by jumping a wire from the pos.+battery terminal to the wires on the ballast resistor, this should give the voltage regulator the best chance to sense that the battery is charged. If this works then you have some wiring issues to chase down.

[cwestra]

About all that's left is the wiring, the voltage regulator senses the state of the battery & asks for charge from the alternator, if the wiring to the regulator is bad it senses a low battery thus energizing the alt.   Test by jumping a wire from the pos.+battery terminal to the wires on the ballast resistor, this should give the voltage regulator the best chance to sense that the battery is charged. If this works then you have some wiring issues to chase down.

Thanks, Bullitt.  I'll try testing the system.

[mopar12372]

those over the counter china "NEW" regulaters are junk , goto mancini racing ang get a adjustible and remove all doubt . un hook your amp gauge before your car burns to the ground (move one wire over to the other ). get a over the counter voltage  gauge and be done with it.Bill

[cwestra]

those over the counter china "NEW" regulaters are junk , goto mancini racing ang get a adjustible and remove all doubt . un hook your amp gauge before your car burns to the ground (move one wire over to the other ). get a over the counter voltage  gauge and be done with it.Bill

I have heard that they are inferior products.  It just seems odd that the one that was in the car when I bought it and 2 other ones after it showed the same results.  Maybe though.  I didn't see an adjustable one listed at Mancini.  There is a race only version (constant voltage) and then a series of other, less expensive ones. 

Do you REALLY think I'll burn my car to the ground with the alternater unhooked.  Probably not.  And I am not real sure what the voltage gauge has to do with my charging problem.  It may be more accurate but probably not causing over charging.

[Bullitt-]

Afraid it's true...more than one Mopar burned due to bad connections at the Amp Meter.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

[Cooter]

GM one wire with internal reg. and never looked back....But that's just me....

[cwestra]

Afraid it's true...more than one Mopar burned due to bad connections at the Amp Meter.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

Good read.  Thanks for sharing it.

It sounds like the higher amp alternaters used on Dodge trucks in the later 70's were too much for the already outdated amp gauges used in cars like ours.  I'm guessing my car (1970 w/o air) would not be drawing at rates this high unless I were to install a higher amp alternater.  Very informative, though.

Regardless, doesn't bypassing the amp gauge by moving the connection over still cause the same amount of current to flow through the wire?  It may take out the gauge as a possible resistance source but it would appear to do nothing about the resistance source at the junction block at the firewall. 

[Bullitt-]

Regardless, doesn't bypassing the amp gauge by moving the connection over still cause the same amount of current to flow through the wire?  It may take out the gauge as a possible resistance source but it would appear to do nothing about the resistance source at the junction block at the firewall. 

  Same amount only if the connection was good. 
  As to the article I would not bother routing the new wire through the bulkhead, just go straight to the starter relay & leave the OE wire through the bulkhead unless it's already trashed.

[Aussie Challenger]

  Same amount only if the connection was good. 
  As to the article I would not bother routing the new wire through the bulkhead, just go straight to the starter relay & leave the OE wire through the bulkhead unless it's already trashed.

Thought there was a dealer fix a few years back where they ran the extra wire around the firewall connector.

[cwestra]

  Same amount only if the connection was good. 
  As to the article I would not bother routing the new wire through the bulkhead, just go straight to the starter relay & leave the OE wire through the bulkhead unless it's already trashed.

Yea.  Actually, I won't be re-wiring, as I don't think I have a problem that will result in my car burning to the ground.  Hopefully I'm right.  What I do have is a problem with the charging system that I need to fix.  And until it is fixed, I won't be using the alternater to charge the battery.

[Aussie Challenger]

Try running a wire direct from the battery to the alternator and recheck charge rate at the battery.

[cwestra]

Try running a wire direct from the battery to the alternator and recheck charge rate at the battery.

What should I expect to see?

[Aussie Challenger]

It will eliminate all the internal wiring circuit and give a direct input to the battery so if there is any other problems under the dash it won't effect the charging. Don't disconnect the wire going into the fuse box or firewall, just run an extra wire. It may not help your current situation but it won't hurt either. If no difference you can remove or leave on.   
The amp guage will not be accurate when you use this wire I suggested.   

[erat340]

Sounds like the feild wire is shorted to ground, full feilding the alt. disconnect at reg. and at alt and ohm to ground.

[cwestra]

Sounds like the feild wire is shorted to ground, full feilding the alt. disconnect at reg. and at alt and ohm to ground.

I'm not quite following, "messy".  Could you expain?

What ohm reading should I be expecting to see?  Are you talking about checking each field connection separately using the same procedure or would both be disconnected right away?  What about the hot connection to the alt?  Does that stay connected?  Thanks.