1966 dart problems, help

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1966DARTDUDE

1966DARTDUDE

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This weekend the Dart had issues. The battery got over charged and actually started to boil over and had steam coming out of it. It smelled really bad. I am kinda lost as to what happened. I thought the voltage regulator probably went out. I had the regulator tested and Autozone said it was ok. What else could it be. I am going to replace the voltage regulator anyway and hope it will fix the problem. I already replaced the battery and had the charging system checked. It was reading almost 17 amps. Someone before me altered the wiring and installed a different voltage regulator than what came on the car stock. Also I noticed that there was a green wire by the alternator that was disconnected. The alternator has the heavy black wire which goes to the battery and it has a blue wire connected to it as well. I have no idea where this green wire goes.

Can you guys give me your thoughts on what might have happened? Also give me your thoughts on the wiring issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
just checked my alternator. I have one green wire going to terminal on outer edge of alternator, one blue wire going to terminal closest to water pump and the black just as yours. If it's the same there should be another terminal just like the one for the blue wire just across from it. Check to see if maybe it wasn't broken off inside the wire terminal.

http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/Dual_Field_Alternator_Wiring.jpg
 
I don't think the green wire was ever hooked up since I bought the car. Is it possible to have the alternator over-charge the battery but the voltage regualor working fine? The black wire going from the alternator does not apprear from the wiring diagram to go through the voltage regulator. So would it be possible that the alternator is bad in some way?
 
If that green wire that was never hooked up goes to the alternator then yes it could overchage. I would think without the field wire hooked up you may be throwing max voltage to the battery at all times. In your first post you said it was running at 17 amps? Did you mean 17 volts? You should measure somewhere in the range of 13.5 to 14.5 volts at the battery when running.
 
Opps typo I meant to say 17 volts. The black heavy wire does indeed go to the termial block. The green wire seems like it does not want to fit on to the terminal at the back of the alternator. Maybe it does have a piece broke off inside it like you said. I will check it out tonight. I have had the car for approx. 6 months now and have never had an issue with it. It is actually my daily driver. With that said wouldn't it have overcharged the battery long before now if the green wire was not hooked up?

The thing I hate the most is trying to figure out what the previous owner has altered/changed on the car. Do you have a picture of what the original voltage regulator looks like? Thanks for all your help it has been greatly appreciated.
 
An original charging system for a '66 Dart would have just the large black battery wire and the small green field wire. They also had a point type regulator with two separate wires. If yours has been changed to something else, you may have to have an auto-electric shop figure out what you have. Starting in '70 they used a 3 wire setup that had 2 field wires and a solid state regulator with a rubber 2 wire connector that plugged into it and a metal retainer to hold it on. It didn't matter which of the two field wires were which terminal of the alternator. Overcharging is almost always a regulator problem but if you have bad wiring or wrong components, it could be many things.
Thanks, Mark
 
63dartman said:
If that green wire that was never hooked up goes to the alternator then yes it could overchage.
Click to expand...

Not correct. Without the green (field) wire hooked up, the alternator will not charge at all.

1966DartDude, go get the three books described in this thread as quickly as you can, to get up to speed on how your car was put together, how its components are supposed to work, and how to repair them when they don't.

For charging system test info and regulator options, see here.
 
1966DARTDUDE said:
This weekend the Dart had issues. The battery got over charged and actually started to boil over and had steam coming out of it. It smelled really bad. I am kinda lost as to what happened. I thought the voltage regulator probably went out. I had the regulator tested and Autozone said it was ok. What else could it be. I am going to replace the voltage regulator anyway and hope it will fix the problem. I already replaced the battery and had the charging system checked. It was reading almost 17 amps. Someone before me altered the wiring and installed a different voltage regulator than what came on the car stock. Also I noticed that there was a green wire by the alternator that was disconnected. The alternator has the heavy black wire which goes to the battery and it has a blue wire connected to it as well. I have no idea where this green wire goes.

Can you guys give me your thoughts on what might have happened? Also give me your thoughts on the wiring issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
.................................................................................................
Here's a photo of the factory setup on a '66 Formula S.....

100_0494.jpg


100_0495.jpg
 
Sounds like someone has been messing with the charging system. Stop driving the car and sort out whats been done and how to fix it. If there are three wires near the alternator, a green, blue and heavy black, it sounds like someone converted it to a dual field alternator - the 70 and up style. Does your car use points or have the mopar electronic ignition on it ? Usually when upgraded to the electronic ignition most people switch to the dual field alternator too. Your voltage reading is too high, it should be about 15 to 15.5 volts when the charging system is working "right".

Good luck with it.
 
According to your photos the alternator looks like a standard issue 66 Dart unit.
The regulator looks like a standard issue 66 Dart unit also but it could be an electronic regulator. I installed a electronic regulator that looked exactly like a old point type and it boiled my battery and burned almost every bulb out of my car. It was charging at 17+ volts also. I replaced the regulator with the old point type that came with the car and replaced the battery (and a whole bunch of bulbs) and everything is good. I think I had a bad ground with that electronic regulator that caused the alternator to full field or charge to the max. output. A bad battery with a shorted or dead cell could also cause the problem. If a battery is showing the alternator a discharge, it will over charge to try to compensate. I would replace the battery and the regulator making sure all the grounds (including where the regulator screws into the firewall) are good and then test the alternator output. Mike
 
toolmanmike said:
According to your photos the alternator looks like a standard issue 66 Dart unit.
Click to expand...

Oops, check the thread again; the original poster has not put up any pics. Another poster put up some pics to show the original poster what the original equipment alternator and regulator look like.
 
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