mopar777

ok this one is boggling me.
i was cruising tonight, nice weather out
and i was driving along, then suddenly the car starting to run real choppy under low driving speed and break up then it died out.
pop the hood and bam. the negative battery cable connector melted/broke off the negative side post terminal. clueless here. voltage regulator going crazy?? anyways my friend who was cruising with me went and got me a new negative cable. put it on, fired it up. disconnected it just to see if the alternator was working. and it dies when i disconnect the negative.???
so the alternator must not be working anymore? however it took me about an hour to get home, i would assume the battery would have been drained and dead if the alternator wasnt working at all? and also, the voltage meter in car says its charging. (on the c side) so whats going on?
anyways, so im going home it starting to run like **** while im close to home. its ok under idle and slow speed. but if i punch it the lights start to dim and it wants to die out. so im thinking its not charging properly. but its not like it dies out, its like. the powers gone. it has no electricity. i was in the driveway with the headlights on and it died out when i put it in gear. (headlights shut off any everything) went to go turn it back on and nothing. wont even crank. i jiggled the fuseable link, as ive had this problem before, and it fired right up. and parked it and done.

problem in the fuseable link?? orange box going bad? i swapped coils just for the hell of it cuz i had an extra. didnt help. still stalled itself out under load.

i have no idea here guys?

440roadrunner

Not sure of your problem but DO NOT EVER unhook a battery cable with the car running. It doesn't prove a thing regarding the charging system, and may damage electronics, like your ignition, tach, or stereo.

First, what are "we" working on, year, make model?

Stock factory wiring?

What are you running for ignition/ alternator?

If you have a factory wiring setup and have a typical muscle car, one thing that is giving a lot of guys fits is the factory firewall/ bulkhead connector. The connections were never heavy enough for the charging current, and years of corrosion and "meltage" have not helped.

mopar777

1971 chrysler 300.
stock factory wiring with the electron ignition orange box distributor. no points.
alternator i believe is stock 78 amp. build sheet says code 78?
ignition is just an orange box with the conversion.
replaced the voltage regulator a couple months back.
accel 8mm wires.
denso plugs.

some pretty narly wiring under the dash, not from me from the previous owner. lots of loose ends but no problems up until today. car ran fine yesterday
the bulkhead (behind the wheel wheel on the firewall?)
looks to be in good clean and non melted condition.

440roadrunner

I would get a multimeter and make some checks

MANY of these cars suffer from bulkhead connector problems nowadays, unless they've been upgraded (bypassed)

With the key in "run" / engine OFF, Check the "key side" of the ballast resistor against the battery.

One good way to do this is measure the voltage drop directly Put one probe directly onto the battery positive post, the other probe on one of the ignition supply points. These are (at least) the "high" side of the ballast, the IGN terminal on the regulator, the blue field wire to the alternator, electric choke if used, and I believe, the idle solenoid if used

You are looking for a LOW reading, the lower the better. More than 1/2 volt is way too much. Nor more than .2 (two tenths) of a volt would be fine

If it's more than 1/2 volt, you have "voltage drop" problems in the harness. These include the path from the battery, starter relay, fuse link, through the bulkhead connector, to the connector and through the ignition switch, back out, and back out through the bulkhead connector on the ignition line

You say you have a voltmeter? Did you install this? That car should have had an AMMETER from the factory, I'm pretty sure.