Electrical goes out while driving....

[Dragon383]

Hello all,

So my new car has died twice while driving. The first time I jumped the car and it was fine until the next stop light. Then it was dead. I bought a new battery to get home and it worked fine. It has been fine for a few short trips since then.
Last night I went to the gas station to fill it up and to take it around the block to charge the battery. I went about 5 miles. I was on the highway and the radio turned off, I quickly went off the next exit into a neighborhood. I made it a couple houses in and it died again.  The battery was low and it wouldn't crank. I tried to jump it and it just didn't have the juice.
My wife came over and I swapped the battery from her car to try. With a little extra cranking it fired up and drove fine for the mile or so home.

So, I am going to pull the alternator and get it checked. I metered it last night and it says it is pumping out 40v?? Does that seem high? I don't know much about alternators without voltage regulators in them.
Also, the voltage regulator, how do I check that to make sure it is working?
Is there anywhere else I should be checking?
There is a junction block beside the battery that about 8 wires come off of, what is that?

Having the car less than a month I am not familiar with everything yet, so thanks in advance for the help.
Dragon

[4Cruizn]

It sounds like the car is running off the battery and as soon as the juice is gone, it dies.  Replace the alternator IMO

[dodj]

What is your ammeter reading? Bulkhead connector could be pooched(melted corroded) not allowing alt output through to the battery.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I believe that junction box that you speak of is the starter relay, so that isn't the problem here.

Really, as was said by dodj, what is your ammeter saying during driving? It should be leaning towards "C" for charging. If not, the main suspects are alternator and voltage regulator. The voltage regulator is the cheapest to replace. Make sure it has a good connection to ground(the body of the car).

[Dragon383]

Thanks guys. I will look into it a bit tonight but really wont have much time until this weekend.

MEK, I can't check the ammeter, I do not have one. The person who "restored" the car replaced it with a voltage gauge. That gauge has shown no movement from test drive forward. I figured it was a small matter i would track down in my spare time. It looks like it should be a front runner now. 

[dodj]

Thanks guys. I will look into it a bit tonight but really wont have much time until this weekend.

MEK, I can't check the ammeter, I do not have one. The person who "restored" the car replaced it with a voltage gauge. T

That's a good thing!!!
What does the voltage gauge do from when you start to when it is running?

[Dragon383]

So news.
I went to the store and got the alt tested. It passed.
I metered the "ballast" and it shows 2.5 ohms.

So now I am down to the voltage regulator or the wiring somewhere... 
Is there any easy way to test the voltage regulator?  It is only a $20 part so if worst comes to worst I can just buy one and see what happens.

MEK, the meter does not move at all, ever. I will see about that this weekend also.

Thanks

[Chryco Psycho]

Start with testing the battery voltage running , if it is over 13.4 the alt & reg are working OK , the best fix is to put both the red & black wires on one post of the ammeter , that will eliminate any problems there , pull the bulkhead plug often there is issues there

[Dragon383]

Chryco, what is the bulkhead plug, I am not familair with this term?

Thanks

[4Cruizn]

Chryco, what is the bulkhead plug, I am not familair with this term?

Thanks

It is the area of the car in the engine compartment where all the wiring hooks into the back of the fuse box on the drivers side next to the brake booster. 

[GranCuda1970]

I get a similar issue occasionally after hitting a big bump in the road or a pothole something that downward Gravity jars the body while driving.

The Dukes of Hazzard - Jumps!

I loose the power to my fuel and temp guages. It still runs no issues, after shutting her down and wiggling the bulkhead connector comes back on.

[burdar]

Also, check the connector at the base of the steering column.  My Challenger just shut off while on a cruise a couple weeks ago.  Turned out that the steering column connector was loose.

[Dragon383]

OK, so the update.

I followed all the wires back from the alt. The large gauge wire goes to the Bulkhead.
So after looking up wiring diagrams online, I find that this wire leads to the ammeter? Does this sound correct?
Then another large gauge wire come off of that and goes back out the Bulkhead to the starter Relay in a fusable link. Does this sound correct?

I found that the fuse link area is burned and melted but still has connection running through it.
If I no longer have an ammeter, how should all this be hooked up to make it work now?
I now have a volt meter that does not work. I have not pulled the dash yet to look behind it.

The schematics I found online are in two halfs. Inside the car and inside the engine compartment. The engine side is easy to read and follow, the inside the car, not so much.

I will replace the burned up fusable link and test from there. If that does not fix the problem I will pull the new gauge and go from there (may do this anyways, hooray long weekend!)

Thanks all

Edit:  So I took the fuse block off to see the back of the bulkhead......There are a few wires with horrible corrosion and one that is straight pulled out of the block from corrosion.  I have a feeling I just found my problem..   

[dodj]

There are a few wires with horrible corrosion and one that is straight pulled out of the block from corrosion.  I have a feeling I just found my problem..   

And a common problem it is.
Seeing as you have a voltmeter, look at by passing your bulkhead connector for the charging circuit.

[Chryco Psycho]

just connect both the red & black wire to just one of the posts on the ammeter this will connect the circuit but eliminate the guage