Amp gauge question

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blk00rt

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My dart is a 76 sport and from what I can tell it has a shunt style amp gauge in it. There was only small wires (18 gauge or so) running to the connector that the gauge was connected to..there were no 10 gauge wires. Anyways I am in the process of replacing the gauges with autometer gauges. Can I just leave this connector disconnected (the big round gauge connector is where the wires are run though) or do I have to connect the wires together to bypass it?
 
The only diagram I have access to is at "MyMopar" and it (could be wrong) shows a full current type ammeter. But if the wiring is small, and looks factory, I'd say you have a shunt ammeter

The sure way to tell is leave them unhooked and see if you have any interior power in the car.
 
67Dart273 said:
The only diagram I have access to is at "MyMopar" and it (could be wrong) shows a full current type ammeter. But if the wiring is small, and looks factory, I'd say you have a shunt ammeter

The sure way to tell is leave them unhooked and see if you have any interior power in the car.
Click to expand...

so with them unhooked if I do have the shunt style then I should still have power to the interior correct?
 
I would have to find that external shunt only to prove theory. I'm sure it was placed on the firewall somwhere. Bump for you at best. Good luck
 
The '75 Valiant Brougham I bought new in Feb '75 had a voltmeter, not an ammeter, and it was the first and worst voltmeter I've ever had in a car. Can't remember if it was part of an optional gauge package at the time, but it probably was, since most had idiot lights, and I always ordered gauges when offered.
 
The only external shunt Mopars and Fords I've ever seen used the wiring harness itself, IE the charging wire for the shunt. That is, the small gauge wires for the meter were run down into the harness beside the large gauge charging line, and spliced into the larger wire in the engine bay.

I actually repaired one on an early 70's ?Fury? that had broken the splice in the harness.

If you look up the 72 Fury you can see how they did it.

Voltmeter? I'll be darned.......................
 
67Dart273 said:
The only diagram I have access to is at "MyMopar" and it (could be wrong) shows a full current type ammeter. But if the wiring is small, and looks factory, I'd say you have a shunt ammeter

The sure way to tell is leave them unhooked and see if you have any interior power in the car.
Click to expand...

they are unhooked and I have power inside the car right now.. the interior lights come on and the car starts.. so I am thinking I had the shunt style.
 
Can you post a photo, or describe the front face? Still unclear to me whether this is an ammeter or voltmeter
 
67Dart273 said:
Can you post a photo, or describe the front face? Still unclear to me whether this is an ammeter or voltmeter
Click to expand...
the original gauge says alternator under it and goes from -40 to plus 40 so I think is an alternator gauge.
 
I disagree. Just because the meter is marked "Alt" and shows a -40 to 40 scale doesn't mean that it actually measures the current directly, i.e. by flowing all of it thru the gage. It could actually sense the dV across the wiring from the cabin to the battery. Indeed, I would be pretty sure they aren't running the full battery current on 18 awg wires. You could also think of it as an ammeter that measures a fraction of the true current (the shunted current). An old gage type voltmeter is actually an ammeter (or galvanometer) with a series resistor.
 
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