Amp gauge problem

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Johnny Dart

Johnny Dart

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The amp gauge in my 70 Dart is working like a tach.Going up and down instead of holding steady.After a while it will settle,but it still doesnt seem to be working right.This gauge shouldnt be jumping back and fourth like it is.

Things I have checked/changed:
New alternator
new Voltage reg
Checked grounds

Anybody else ever have this problem?
Is it just a bad gauge?
Anybody with a fix?

I know about going to a volt gauge and that is a possibility,but some things I like keeping stock.

Thanks
 
Well as much as you like and alot of people like to keep things stock those things are a fire hazard and the last thing you want going bad on you while you are on the road in the middle of the night. I would swap it out. But the only other thing that I can think that it would be is if it is doing it while everything is on I.E. headlights heater and so on then the regulator could possibly be bad. I know you replaced it but I have gotten new ones that were worse then the one I took off. I would also chech the connection at the bulk head connector for the mail power feed coming in.
 
I have the same symptons, ammeter goes into neg when lights and fan are on (slow speeds) and runs high when cruising with no extra running. also, how are ammeters a fire hazard?
 
Well think of it as a ballast resistor in some aspects. You pass all of the current in the car through them. They will get warm. Also they can be shorted out when removing the dash if you do not disconnect the battery first. I know I shouldn't have to say that but you won't believe how many people do it. The worst part of them is that if it goes out on you in the middle of the night you can't fix it. If you have the tools you can disconnect the two wires and hook them straight together. But how many of us have the tools in our cars to take the insturment cluster out in the middle of the night. The wiring industry frowns on the use of them for many reasons, mostly the ones listed above. Also if you use anything rated higher than the stock alternator you will cook the ammeter like rickity tick!
 
BJS is giving some good advice here. GET RID OF THE AMMETERS!! They are a potential fire hazard and even if they don't burn your car to the ground, they can and eventually will cause all kinds of other electrical gremlins. Been there, done that.
 
Bjs is right, been there done that and done this..

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

when you disconnect the amp gauge it stays where it is and the needle will stay in the middle.. so the original look also stays. no worries there mate.

mine used to get soo hot when i would turn on my stereo and the positive lead would heat up and melt the plastic to the poitnt that it was no longer possible to make a tight connection. therefore making sparks.. shorting out my regulator, causing the car to not start, and at one point in time making my dash melt so bad that the car filed up with smoke and i had to pull over to let the smoke out and disconnect the battery.

could you imagine going in for a drink leaving your car running and by tie you come bck out its up in flames.. me either.. cuz that would suck.

And to point out your other problem with the gauge going up and down all the time.. mother mopar only had one bad idea.. amp gauges.. with a 170 non ac radio delete car.. the amp will read negative when you turn on the headlights because the way an amp gauge works is it shows you power flow.. or draw. and in most cases it will alwasy run in the negative, cause thats the way the cookie crumbles.

hope that clears some things up for ya, and its more then likely your alternator that is your issue anyway. not puttin gout enough charge
Cerwin
 
The ammeter in not were your problem with the fluctuation lies. It is in your charging system (alternator), your ammeter is just reading the influx between charging + and discharging -. What your ammeter is reading when it reads low is that your car is using more power than the charging system is supplying. When it spikes high on the plus side it is making up for the low supply before and when it gets to a point that it has recovered the ammeter pretty much zeros out. Chrysler cars are notorious for discharging at or near idle. To fix my cars so they don't do this I change alternator after alternator to find one that won't do this. If I wasn't so stubborn about using other makers stuff I would just put a GM internal regulator alternator on it. The Delco Remy alternator is a very stable output alternator at all rpm ranges.

As far as the thing about the ammeter being a weak link in the charging system is also true, for that matter anyplace there is a connection can be a weak link, like the bulkhead connector in the firewall for example. I just wanted to point out if you remove your ammeter it won't cure the problem of the voltage and amperage fluctuation.


Chuck
 
Update,
The gauge is starting to act more normal now,once the car is warmed up it works fine.I have been going through the grounds,connections,bulkhead,etc cleaning as I go.All the electric parts have been changed except the battery.Dont know the history on it.The battery cables could be part of the problem to.Looking for a NOS set.
 
make sure you finish it off with taking your bulkhead connections all apart and cleaning that out.. those get puurdy nasty..
 
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