SillyxMongoose

So I know the original amp meter would be burnt up with the original harness and bulkhead connectors would melt so that caused people to go to the commercial way of fixing it by running to the amp meter by it's self through the firewall or just cutting it out completely. I would prefer to keep it but I don't know if the new harness's through YearOne allow the install to be done correct, I would imagine they run the correct gage of wire now for this day and age and I am going to pack my bulkhead connectors with a sh*t ton of electrical grease to keep anything that could cause resistance out. I was just wondering what your guy's experience with the new engine harness and a new dash harness was like.

moe7404

i have seen a LOT of old AMP meters by passed by warping wire around the two posts. this takes it out of the system. but if it was mine i would install a volt meter. after driving the old AMP gauges and the volt meter used on the newer trucks the volt meters seam to do just fine as far as giving you the info you need.

440roadrunner

Bypassing the ammeter itself does most of nothing. In some cases the ammeter itself can give trouble, but the entire design is poor. These didn't do all that well "back then," and the proof is what's known as "fleet wiring." "Fleet wiring" is an option for larger alternators where essentially the ammeter wires were run through the firewall on separate grommets with much larger wire.

For a good read on bypassing the bulkhead connector and ammeter, read this MAD article

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...p-gauges.shtml

The fact is, the flat spade terminals in the bulkhead connectors were never designed to carry 40+ amps. I used to service HVAC, which included forced air electric furnaces (used a bunch "up here" for backup heat pump head). A typical electric furnace heating element draws around 20A and 220-240VAC, and these types connectors gave trouble at 20A!!!!

moe7404

well you do have a good point. i should have said that i have not done that mod, just read about it. i had a 300 L that the AMP gauge burned quit bad. i think i cobbled something together, that was a LONG time ago.

bremereric

I run a lot of electrical stuff on my Dart. I run the alternator and battery wire through the bulkhead and bypassed the amp guage. Pretty much like the mad electrical article.

SillyxMongoose

So most people are just taking it out so the gauge does nothing? That bothers me to have a gauge on it but have it not work or do anything but I guess I could live with it. So you guys are just looking to the car gods for when something in your charge system goes bad?

GotScout

My old thisorthat died... booohoooo oh why me? Okay... they all worked great the first 30 years... so why "NOW" are they a bad design? Let's break it down.

The ammeter (not AMP METER) is like a stir straw in the flow of power through the car. Suck slow... no issue, draw fast... starve and burn.

So... add stereo, newer more draw headlights, an amp, a hair drier for the wife... and now wonder why things go wrong. Also... taking a system designed for a 48 or 63 amp alternator... and swap out said alt for a mean green or whatever 130 amp monster... and you are sucking too much through a resisted system.

The fix... take all NON FACTORY add-ons and make a fuse block bay mounted to feed with. Also take a #10 charge wire and run from alt post to the batt + post to feed the battery directly, without having to loop through the restricted system. Run a power wire from batt to this new fuse block.

Now the BHC (bulk head connector) itself. How dirty is it since the last time you serviced it? (that was a trick question since you never have!) So do.
Clean the old crud and grease out, check plugs for burns and melting, re apply dielectric grease and reconnect. Seal in block silicon to protect.

BUT... the 2 big charge wires... these are usually the burners... remove them from the link. See below... this is the same issue, and cure... from a Scout.

Enjoy...

Archer

silly -

Just for reference, after having intermittent electrical problems a year ago, following advice here and elsewhere on the "net", I disabled the ammeter on my 74 Charger.

It didn't help one bit.

After following more internet advice, and doing multiple voltage checks, everything appeared normal. (Should have been checking amperage, not voltage),
finally found it was a blown (or rather missing diode) in the alternator. Had the alternator rebuilt and have since reattached the factor ammeter. Car and driver are both doing quite well.

Years ago, when I didn't "know anything", I would have just swapped out the alternator ... but I was young and impulsive then, and didn't have Internet support...

Now, the car is electrically stock, or actually a bit less than stock (no AC, no radio, etc). Bottom line, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

These cars are old, and it may come to a point where everything is going to need to be replaced sooner or later - or maybe not. If you like tinkering, then pick a project and start replacing one thing (or one circuit) at a time. Your call.

Archer

440roadrunner

You don't "have" to have a gauge that does nothing. I converted my Dart to a voltmeter according to this thread. Buy a Cheap Sunpro voltmeter, which has a calibration pot, and install the guts of the voltmeter in the ammeter face. Then adjust the cal pot so that 14V is the center of the old ammeter scale. Only thing that "looks funny" is when the key is off, the ammeter appears to be pegged discharging!!!

Read all three pages, as this covers several types of instrument clusters, I cannot take credit for this, I merely copied the method

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...d.php?t=119480