Ammeter pegged...

Guys,

First off, I don't know jack about electrical. The only way I manage to wire anything (in a car) is with a handful of fuses. I just keep miswiring until the fuses stop popping and then I've got it right. :D

As of late, an issue has started with my 72 Scamp. When I first fire it up, the ammeter will peg out. This has only happened about 3 times lately. When this pegging of the ammeter happens, it sends my AFR gauge to full rich (falsely), and the blinkers blink too fast. The actual time the blinker light is ON is OK, but the time the blinker light is OFF is too short.

I thought the AFR gauge was messing up, but no, it is related to the electrical system. I experimented this morning. I just let it go, to see what would happen. The AFR gauge stayed glitched until the ammeter fell back to the midway point on the gauge. Then the AFR gauge acted as if it "restarted" and began operating normal. The blinkers went back to normal at that same time too.

Have I got a bad altenator? Bad regulator? Help an electrical illiterate brother out before I fry something. Funny thing, my brother (before he passed away) was an electrician. I'm a mechanical engineer. My brother used to laugh his arse off at me when we would wire something up on a car. I miss those days.


7milesout