Modernized Engine Wiring

'273:

I did not mean that you had the theory wrong - you in fact agreed with the diode's increased voltage drop under load. I was referencing the OP's failure to understand the voltage drop. Sorry if I was not clear.

A direct reference between the regulator & battery does not exist in the mopar system. it sees the voltage drop through all of the bad connections, undersized wires, fusible links, etc. We both know how often an overcharged battery happens. If you have detailed a relay dedicated to the voltage regulator, great. Please keep telling people to do so.
I actually do regulators & related components for a living, and the regulator sensing path is still a ball of snakes today. Toyota / Nippondenso actually runs a dedicated circuit all the way to the alternator for sensing. Many medium duty GM trucks do too, especially if equipped with a lift gate.

we dropped those radios in brand new cars. The ones those idiots did not wreck were usually re-sold in two years back then, and were on their second transmission. Honestly the bulkheads may have been starting to melt, but the cars had so many other problems it was overlooked. They blamed the radios for everything anyway, including the unit with the fan blade stuck through the battery case. I don't miss most of that.

B.