Dash Power wire?????

-
1

1966 dart wagon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
1,387
Reaction score
2
Location
Sioux Falls, SD
Ok i fixed my wiring behind my guage cluster and its all nice and cleaned up, but now i have no power wire. The guy before me ran a huge wire from the battery to an aftermarket amp guage under the dash. When i got the car i noticed some wires under the dash had been melted along with a wire on the amp guage , so i took out the aftermarket guages(amp,temp,oil psi) and took the guage cluster out and fixed it all up. Now i put the guage cluster back in and have no power at all :cwm10: (very angry) according to my wiring diagram i should have a main power wire running to a ammeter wth is that? I presume this isnt the amp guage inside the cluster cause the wires(according to my diagram) dont run there. I am so lost and am getting a huge headache thinking of how to fix this, where should i start to run a power wire to..from battery to where, what should i put in the wire so i dont have 12 volts running to something and melt more wires.

i am so lost now i dont know what to do? and getting a headache only gets me more mad
 
dartcuda said:
I had to replace the same wire on my 66 Dart. It runs from the gauge to the starter relay, if I remember right.
Click to expand...
ya i looked on my 66 dart its way different, what guage are u talking about
 
No Power wire???

Mark, I would think "if" someone replaced your orginal RED (battery to Amp) wire with another wire, there was a problem with your orginal wire. Try to find out first if you have "continuity" between the wire that NOW runs from your battery to your amp guage. THEN we can go from there.

Continuity...POWER OFF, did you get a small meter yet?

I will send you a hand drawing...If you have any questions "e-mail"

Jim
 
Cool your jets there son! :) A very large percentage of these old A bodies were re-wired precisely because the original dash guage didn't work correctly and would cause a no-start situation. A lot of them caused under dash burn outs and all kinds of havoc. I ran into the same problem with my 66 years ago and bypassed the original ampmeter before any more damage was done. Have a look at the Mad Electrical site for a great how-to on bypassing the cluster guage. :book: If you're really frustarted and just can't wait to get this running, remove the wire from the left post of the dash guage and move it over to the right post along with the existing wire. You've now bypassed the guage and have a complete circut which will allow the car to start - if there aren't any other continutiy problems. Good luck.
 
dartcuda said:
I had to replace the same wire on my 66 Dart. It runs from the gauge to the starter relay, if I remember right.
Click to expand...

This is the way it should be. The Amp guage is the ammeter.
 
OldVart said:
Cool your jets there son! :) A very large percentage of these old A bodies were re-wired precisely because the original dash guage didn't work correctly and would cause a no-start situation. A lot of them caused under dash burn outs and all kinds of havoc. I ran into the same problem with my 66 years ago and bypassed the original ampmeter before any more damage was done. Have a look at the Mad Electrical site for a great how-to on bypassing the cluster guage. :book: If you're really frustarted and just can't wait to get this running, remove the wire from the left post of the dash guage and move it over to the right post along with the existing wire. You've now bypassed the guage and have a complete circut which will allow the car to start - if there aren't any other continutiy problems. Good luck.
Click to expand...

That should help him out (Good Site) Sid :thumblef:
 
OldVart said:
Cool your jets there son! :) A very large percentage of these old A bodies were re-wired precisely because the original dash guage didn't work correctly and would cause a no-start situation. A lot of them caused under dash burn outs and all kinds of havoc. I ran into the same problem with my 66 years ago and bypassed the original ampmeter before any more damage was done. Have a look at the Mad Electrical site for a great how-to on bypassing the cluster guage. :book: If you're really frustarted and just can't wait to get this running, remove the wire from the left post of the dash guage and move it over to the right post along with the existing wire. You've now bypassed the guage and have a complete circut which will allow the car to start - if there aren't any other continutiy problems. Good luck.
Click to expand...
this sounds like a good plan, but i dont think i'm getting my info threw clear. My dash was getting power from a wire that ran from the battery to an aftermarket am guage under the dash, after i took this out (a wire was melted or close to) now i have nothing at all, i dont get what wire you guys are talking about that is a main wire on the guage cluster?? :silent:

how did everything get power fatory i dont have just a big red wire anywhere. i'm so confused :cwm10:
 
You have to follow your wire(s) from the (+) battery back. (you have to understand what you have, to start troublshooting your problem) If someone put in a different wire for whatever reason it may not be red. If you can tell us what wires go where as it stands "now" it will be easy to guide you along...The guage wire he's talking about is the (+) AMP guage wire. It's possible that the melded wire you see is the "old orginal" wire, and you took out the one someone else put in that supplied the 12v?
 
Are you sure that aftermarket guage is an Ampmeter and not a voltmeter? Most people would replace the original dash Ampmeter with a voltmeter. O.K. doesn't really matter. :) Originally, the main power wire came through the firewall block and went to the left side of the original ammeter in the dash cluster. It then ran from the right side of the ampmeter to the starter relay, as the other guys already mentioned. If you think about this for a minute, you'll see you have a complete circuit: Battery(main power); through the dash to the ampmeter; to the starter relay. Now you have the possibility that the car will start. If you break the continuity anywhere along that path, you then have a no start situation.
So, now back up a little to where you took the wire that came from the battery to the aftermarket guage, and you said: "after I took this out (a wire was mented or close to) now I have nothng at all.." Right there is the break in continuity I was talking about. You have no power between the battery and the starter relay, and that definitely won't help your car start. You need to get that circuit back to a full electrical path again. Hope this helps. :)
 
ok i checked what the aftermarket guage was it said amps, so it is a amp guage. I'm so confused on how the main dash power got to the cluster it went threw a ammeter...what is that :silent: ???? i need like 101 basic stuff here i got some pics of some stuff.

here is the wire that went to the aftermarket amp guage
http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/2796/wire32ub.jpg

ok i was gonna post some more pics but imageshake decided to go down at this minute :cwm10: but ya i'm drowning is about how i put it :sad9:
 
The ammeter or amps gauge measurers amp draw on the system. But they didn't want all the amperage going through the gauge so the factory ran a smaller wire to it from the starter relay to show if your system was charging or discharging. You can either do away with the amps gauge and run power from a protected source(40amp circuit breaker) or use the gauge and take your dash power from one of the terminals on the amps gauge. The red wire that someone installed directly to the battery was installed incorerctly and could have burned the whole car up. If you decide to bypass the ammeter on your dash and run a new power wire make suer you use a heavy circuit breaker at the source.
 
ok so id like all the fatory guages to work, but if not sugested i wont hook up the amp guage.

how can i run a wire from the battery with what ever protection (circuit breaker) where do i connect it to the dash, how can i run it clearnly threw the fire wall.

i need all the lil details here i'm pretty lost
 
You need a wiring diagram, first. The circuit is simple, but you have to follow it. The battery has two connections on the positive post. One goes to the starter (large guage), the other to the starter relay. Another wire (red wire) goes from the starter relay to the amp guage. The other side of the amp guage (black wire) is the feed to the rest of the car AND to the large post on the alternator.
 
Jim Lusk said:
You need a wiring diagram, first. The circuit is simple, but you have to follow it. The battery has two connections on the positive post. One goes to the starter (large guage), the other to the starter relay. Another wire (red wire) goes from the starter relay to the amp guage. The other side of the amp guage (black wire) is the feed to the rest of the car AND to the large post on the alternator.
Click to expand...
Jim you nailed it, if you look at his photo it looks like the black feed wire that belongs on his stock amp gauge. Since it is no longer being supplied by the aftermarket gauge and jumper wire it is dead. If it is the stock black feed wire I think it should be connect to the stock amp gauge and see if it feeds the car. I suspect since it had an after market gauge and supply wire the stock amp gauge is dead or the stock feed (red) to the amp gauge is dead.
 
I also believe the stock alt guage is broken or doesnt work, the guage face and needle are black does that matter? ok so i think i get this i should run a wire from my starter relay (which point) to an aftermarket amp guage under the dash then run power off of that to the guage cluster. Where do i connect a wire to the guage cluster there is no plug in, can i connect it to the back side of one of the studs that hooks to the guage(if you guys get what i'm saying) i'm getting this stuff finaly

edit: also can i run just a straight wire from the relay to the amp guage then to the cluster is that to much power should i put a circuit breaker in there somewhere?
 
1966 dart wagon said:
I also believe the stock alt guage is broken or doesnt work, the guage face and needle are black does that matter? ok so i think i get this i should run a wire from my starter relay (which point) to an aftermarket amp guage under the dash then run power off of that to the guage cluster. Where do i connect a wire to the guage cluster there is no plug in, can i connect it to the back side of one of the studs that hooks to the guage(if you guys get what i'm saying) i'm getting this stuff finaly

edit: also can i run just a straight wire from the relay to the amp guage then to the cluster is that to much power should i put a circuit breaker in there somewhere?
Click to expand...

Yes and No.....Yes, you could get a new ammeter and run a new 10 guage wire from your relay. Piggyback it with the wire on the relay that comes from your battery. Ensure you put in "somewhere" along the wire a 40 amp 12 Volt fused wire (link). The wire will then run to your "New" (+) side ammeter. The "Cluster Power" should take care of itself when you connect up your (-) side of the ammeter. (Unless you have other wire problems)

Anyone disagree? Anything to add to help this young buck
 
69signetv8 said:
Yes and No.....Yes, you could get a new ammeter and run a new 10 guage wire from your relay. Piggyback it with the wire on the relay that comes from your battery. Ensure you put in "somewhere" along the wire a 40 amp 12 Volt fused wire (link). The wire will then run to your "New" (+) side ammeter. The "Cluster Power" should take care of itself when you connect up your (-) side of the ammeter. (Unless you have other wire problems)

Anyone disagree? Anything to add to help this young buck
Click to expand...
ok so run a wire 10 guage, from my starter relay with a '40amp 12 volt fused link' in the wire somewhere to my amp guage, where do i connect the wire on my guage cluster so i can get power to and from my amp guage can i hook it to one of the studs on the back of the cluster :-k

today i put a wire from my starter relay that was orginally on my aftermarket alt guage hooked it to the guage then the other wire that was on the guage i hooked up to nothing...
i'm electrical retarded
 
You have me a bit confused now...
Confirm what you mean by your "guage cluster"! Is it a aftermarket cluster that's got an ammeter/oil/temp that you want to hook up? Is your your stock ammeter toast? or....are your talking about your insturment cluster? :scratch:
 
by the guage cluster i am refuring to the whole pannel that all the guages connect to, including the wiper, lights and flasher buttons. Id like to run all of my stock guages, but if its not as hard i will run an aftermarket amp guage that hangs off the bottom of my dash(the metal part) ok i kinda get the running of my wires to the amp guage, but i dont know what is pos and neg on the amp guage. Like i said id run the stock guage if possible but if its harder or lots of wiring...then no. i dont get how things worked then i pulled out a couple wires that were hack job'd now it dont this is lame. where can i hook a power wire up to my insterment cluster(the guages) to get them working
 
lets see if I can help you understand a little ..starting from the starter relay put in the fuse link or circuit breaker , from there run a heavy (10 gauge) wire to the NEW amp gauge, connect to the drivers side of the NEW gauge, next run another heavy ( 10 gauge )wire from the passenger side of the NEW amp gauge to the heavy black wire behind the old dash cluster, you can put both of these wires together with a splice connector.. this should give you power to everything EXCEPT the OLD amp guage .... I hope this helps, I cant simplify it any more than this...... the reason everyone wants you to NOT use the OLD amp gauge is because it has been the sorce of many problems in the past, including fires in the dash itself...
 
The posts that hold the ammeter to the circuit board are the electrical connections. There should be a "R" and a "B" or a "+" and "-" next to the correct studs.
 
Last night, I looked at the back of a spare cluster I have. The two posts sticking out the back of the ammeter do not have circuits leading to/from them on the printed board. I wondered about that until I remembered what happened when I first re-installed the cluster in my son's car.

Some of you may remember when I was asking about a problem with the instrument lights, turn indicators, high/low beam indicator, etc. acting crazy. Lights dimmed or flashed when they shouldn't and other major gremlins. The ammeter was hooked up properly, but in my haste, I forgot to plug in the round connector in the middle of the instrument cluster (yes, the BIG one). Once I plugged it in, everything (right down to the light on a delay to let you see where your key goes in) worked wonderfully!!

Jim, I'm not trying to contradict what you just said, but I don't see how power gets to the cluster through the ammeter, based on what I experienced.

Just a thought,
Jerry
 
[QUOTE='74 Sport]Last night, I looked at the back of a spare cluster I have. The two posts sticking out the back of the ammeter do not have circuits leading to/from them on the printed board. I wondered about that until I remembered what happened when I first re-installed the cluster in my son's car.

Some of you may remember when I was asking about a problem with the instrument lights, turn indicators, high/low beam indicator, etc. acting crazy. Lights dimmed or flashed when they shouldn't and other major gremlins. The ammeter was hooked up properly, but in my haste, I forgot to plug in the round connector in the middle of the instrument cluster (yes, the BIG one). Once I plugged it in, everything (right down to the light on a delay to let you see where your key goes in) worked wonderfully!!

Jim, I'm not trying to contradict what you just said, but I don't see how power gets to the cluster through the ammeter, based on what I experienced.

Just a thought,
Jerry[/QUOTE]

This is getting to be a "weired" but interresting post. I don't think Jim's really saying that the (-) amp is directly connected to your cluster to power things up, however yes...indirectly we know the final result after going to the ALT, Fuses ect...will then go to the clusters main connection. No (-) connection...No go period!

Clear as mud....(to me)
 
:cwm10: dont be all mean now, but, i remembered the orginal amp guage hook up(how it was when i got it ) and i retried it(hooked stuff up) again yesterday didnt work maybe i did something stupid/wrong, but today i hooked up the amp guage and I HAVE POWER TO EVERYTHING IN THE DASH :notworth: i was so happy, i tried it before and nothing what the hell o well the stuff works tomorrow i'm going to install my guage cluster again, but i need to re hook up my neutral safty switch it has never been hooked up and i cant turn the car over...by key. I looked under the car but i cant find it(yes i know its on the trans) remember the car has a engine and i think trans swap(\6 to 318 ) where is this switch it has to be on the drivers side...duh, i even jacked up the car and looked nothing...i'm going to relook tomorrow when i have more time i had to work tonight. I'm just so happy i have power to my guages thank god. if i cant find my plug in, how do i wire it/ bypass it(i believe my dad knows he did it to his trailduster..mopar or no car(drives a gm now lame!) and i'm going to change the fuel filter.

today we tried to start her up, had gas, primed it, power at coil....nothing(did crank over at least) my dad removed the coil wire at the dist. and no spark...does this mean bad coil...good thing i have more
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top