Overcharging 68Dart...need some short fused help (pun intended:)
Hey folks, I could really use some help finding the reason my 1968 Dart is overcharging.
I have 24 hours to solve this so my son can drive the car he inherited from his grandpa in a Senior graduation parade tomorrow. I have spent the past week pouring over the forum and learning/digesting the information about overcharging. I have done all I can find to fix this but I’m still overcharging. I’m definitely missing something, and don't know what it is :-/
We have a 1968 Dart 270 with a 318. I have added an electric fan and stereo…but that’s about it. Here’s my problem…sorry for the diatribe I just want to provide as much info as possible.
We took the Dart for its longest drive 2 weeks ago (about 10 miles) and found that the Ammeter was at discharge. Got home and battery was at about 11v. I replaced the original 1968 VR with a new one from NAPA. Now it charges! But I noticed smoke wisping from the back of the VR when the car was started up at fast idle. Put a meter on the battery and it was indicating 16VDC at idle.
I purchased a VR106 thinking it was just an undersized reg for the added electrical load. I ran a ground from the regulator to the master cylinder and fired her up. Again, smoke wisping from the underside of the VR. I read a voltage drop from the battery to the regulator as I’d learned here and it was at 1.5VDC! Nowhere near the 0.2 to 0.3VDC drop I should have…Bad!!
After digesting more of the great info on this site I tried tracing the voltage losses through the path but was unable to pinpoint to a single source, I had loss through bulkhead, ignition switch, bulkhead, etc...
So, I added a fused 30A relay to send voltage directly from battery to VR using the Blu/Wht wire as signal for the relay as I’d read in some of the posts. I also added a parallel 14GA wire from the output post on the alternator directly to the Ammeter. I bypassed the Ammeter by connecting all wires to one terminal. I ran a ground direct from battery (-) to the VR Ground plane (chassis). I replaced all the terminals at VR, Alt, and Ballast. I also added a missing ground from the engine to the master cylinder bolt (cleaned), Installed a rebuilt alternator and a new Interstate Battery (fully charged) and tried it again.
As soon as we started the engine tonight, smoke started wisping from under the VR again, but it seemed to regulate the voltage. ~13VDC at idle as read on the battery, and ~14.8 at 2000 RPM.
We let it warm up and went for a drive….after about a minute of driving the volt meter was sitting at 17VDC. Pulled back into the garage and took the following voltage readings with my new Fluke DMM:
Batt (+) to (-) @Idle: 12.6VDC
Batt (+) to (-) @2000 RPM: 17VDC and climbing
Batt (+) to VR @ Idle: 0.07VDC
Batt (-) to VR chassis @ Idle: 0.008VDC
Output at Alternator to Bat (-) @Idle: -0.5VDC (DMM (+) on Battery, (-) on Alternator)
Output at Alternator to Bat (-) @2000RPM: -2.3VDC (DMM (+) on Battery, (-) on Alternator)
I’m not sure what I have missed. I have a another new Standard VR106 in a box in case the one in the car was damaged by the original voltage drop. I wanted to tap you smart folks before I threw more $$ at the problem.
Thanks in advance for any help you can lend.
Hey folks, I could really use some help finding the reason my 1968 Dart is overcharging.
I have 24 hours to solve this so my son can drive the car he inherited from his grandpa in a Senior graduation parade tomorrow. I have spent the past week pouring over the forum and learning/digesting the information about overcharging. I have done all I can find to fix this but I’m still overcharging. I’m definitely missing something, and don't know what it is :-/
We have a 1968 Dart 270 with a 318. I have added an electric fan and stereo…but that’s about it. Here’s my problem…sorry for the diatribe I just want to provide as much info as possible.
We took the Dart for its longest drive 2 weeks ago (about 10 miles) and found that the Ammeter was at discharge. Got home and battery was at about 11v. I replaced the original 1968 VR with a new one from NAPA. Now it charges! But I noticed smoke wisping from the back of the VR when the car was started up at fast idle. Put a meter on the battery and it was indicating 16VDC at idle.
I purchased a VR106 thinking it was just an undersized reg for the added electrical load. I ran a ground from the regulator to the master cylinder and fired her up. Again, smoke wisping from the underside of the VR. I read a voltage drop from the battery to the regulator as I’d learned here and it was at 1.5VDC! Nowhere near the 0.2 to 0.3VDC drop I should have…Bad!!
After digesting more of the great info on this site I tried tracing the voltage losses through the path but was unable to pinpoint to a single source, I had loss through bulkhead, ignition switch, bulkhead, etc...
So, I added a fused 30A relay to send voltage directly from battery to VR using the Blu/Wht wire as signal for the relay as I’d read in some of the posts. I also added a parallel 14GA wire from the output post on the alternator directly to the Ammeter. I bypassed the Ammeter by connecting all wires to one terminal. I ran a ground direct from battery (-) to the VR Ground plane (chassis). I replaced all the terminals at VR, Alt, and Ballast. I also added a missing ground from the engine to the master cylinder bolt (cleaned), Installed a rebuilt alternator and a new Interstate Battery (fully charged) and tried it again.
As soon as we started the engine tonight, smoke started wisping from under the VR again, but it seemed to regulate the voltage. ~13VDC at idle as read on the battery, and ~14.8 at 2000 RPM.
We let it warm up and went for a drive….after about a minute of driving the volt meter was sitting at 17VDC. Pulled back into the garage and took the following voltage readings with my new Fluke DMM:
Batt (+) to (-) @Idle: 12.6VDC
Batt (+) to (-) @2000 RPM: 17VDC and climbing
Batt (+) to VR @ Idle: 0.07VDC
Batt (-) to VR chassis @ Idle: 0.008VDC
Output at Alternator to Bat (-) @Idle: -0.5VDC (DMM (+) on Battery, (-) on Alternator)
Output at Alternator to Bat (-) @2000RPM: -2.3VDC (DMM (+) on Battery, (-) on Alternator)
I’m not sure what I have missed. I have a another new Standard VR106 in a box in case the one in the car was damaged by the original voltage drop. I wanted to tap you smart folks before I threw more $$ at the problem.
Thanks in advance for any help you can lend.