help with the fusible link wire smoking under the dash as i drive

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340plot

340plot

the bushy bush
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like the title states. i can leave the key in the on position for days, with no smoke from the wire, but when i drive the car down the road, i get that aweful smell of burning wire. i feel all the wires, and sure enough, the fusible link wire is the culpret.
is there anything i can do to check it out? i do not see any splits in the wire at all. is there a way to do away with that one wire, and run my own? where does it come from and what does it go to??????????lol
thanks
 
R U Overcharging? Check to see if the wire is actually connected in the bulkhead. Mine came loose and started to melt the bulkhead connector.
 
yes, the wire is connected at the bulkhead, cause under the hood and under the dash is getting hot. but i really smell it alot when i get on the throttle. maybe over charging. if it is overcharging, what would be bad?
 
Before you just start throwing parts at it get a tester on it and see what voltage the Alt. is putting out.

If the fusable link is smoking I wouldn't be taking it too far from home. Hell you shouldn't even be driving it with wires smoking.
 
trace out that wire and look for a DIRTY, corroded, or loose connection, any of those will create resistance and resistance will create heat
 
Agree, don't drive it until fixed. There's a very good chance of a fire, or frying your electrical system, or both. Sounds like alternator/regulator as mentioned. Can possibly be a short somewhere too.
 
You should use an OHM meter to check the wire. Connect it to both ends too see if the wire has too much resistence. Also as stated above check for corroided wires or connections.

I almost lost my '76 Suburban 454 last year because of similiar problem, (circuit brkr on fire wall) luckily I always have a fire ext. handy. I also just picked up a '67 Chevy because of an electrical fire.

You really should not drive until it is fixed.
 
A loose connection on the Ammeter will do it too, I had the same problem with my friends 74 Duster.One of the Ammeter studs on the back of the guage itself was loose. I changed out the guage in the cluster and replalced the burnt up fusible link wire and all was good.
 
so the fusible link wire goes to the guage in the dash? if it does, can i just do away with it? cause i am getting a autometer amp guage? but if the fusible link wire goes to the guage in the car, where does it go to under the hood?
 
As mentioned it could be the connections on the dash amp. gauge. Do you have access to a ammeter you could put in line with just the fuasble link circuit that's getting hot to see how many amps. it's drawing while you are driving/running it?
 
nothingbutdarts said:
As mentioned it could be the connections on the dash amp. gauge. Do you have access to a ammeter you could put in line with just the fuasble link circuit that's getting hot to see how many amps. it's drawing while you are driving/running it?
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i do not. i cut the wire that goes to the amp guage in the car, and when the car idles, and i touch them, it sparks a little bit, but if i hold the gas at like 2500rpm, and touch them together, it was like a explosion. i burn my right index finger all up. it was like welding. the wire ends literally fused back together.

i have just put a new altenator and voltage regulator on the car to no avail
 
there is a blue and a green wire that goes to the altenator. what do these to go to. blue goes to feild? green goes to ground? or both to the feild on back of altenator?
 
Stop, and take deep breaths.
Now, what is the alt putting out? Over 14.5v, look at reg, and ground.
Next, bulkhead, then ammeter. They go south after years. (felt up in my dash one day, and got burnt-loose connection on ammeter, hot hot hot).
When I moved the battery to the trunk, I used madelectrical diagram( I, know, some people think it is gm, etc..). I bypassed the amp, soldering the wires together; grabbed the bulkhead wire from the alt, ran it to starter relay, installed a voltmeter (it tells you more), and the normal trunk stuff.
Works great. Go that that site. (I'll take the abuse, lol).
 
i do not have a guage, just the junk one in the dash.

can you explain to me how i just do away with the amp guage in the car? but then again, i cut the big black wire under the dash that goes to the stock guage, and i still smell burning wires as i rev the car up, so that alone rules out my ammeter that is in the rallye dash.
 
i am still trying to figure out where the blue and the green wires go on the altenator. on the back of the alt, it says feild and one says grnd. blue goes to feild or grnd.? green goes to field or grnd?
 
blue with white tracer goes to terminal I on the regulator
green goes to terminal F on regulator

I is the one in the middle top of regulator F is the one on the right.

Blue one also goes through the ballast resistor. Blue one is the power wire that helps control charge. (ign switch) Green one ultimately grounds. It takes both of them to charge properly. In my diagrams back of alt both say field.

Hopefully this helps. BTW what vehicle are you dealing with? year model?
 
it is a 70 duster with points .

i am talking about how they plug into the altenator. i have 3 wires. one has a loop, and i know it goes to the stud with a nut on it. then i have a blue and one green wire that clip onto the altnator. witch one is field and which one is ground? or are both field?
 
340plot said:
it is a 70 duster with points .

i am talking about how they plug into the altenator. i have 3 wires. one has a loop, and i know it goes to the stud with a nut on it. then i have a blue and one green wire that clip onto the altnator. witch one is field and which one is ground? or are both field?
Click to expand...


you have a dual fld alt with a single fld regulator?
 
340plot said:
it is a 70 duster with points .

i am talking about how they plug into the altenator. i have 3 wires. one has a loop, and i know it goes to the stud with a nut on it. then i have a blue and one green wire that clip onto the altnator. witch one is field and which one is ground? or are both field?
Click to expand...

I believe that on the 70 up alternators they have two field wires on the alt. as opposed to a single field terminal on the 69 down. Now, it makes no difference which wires plud on the field terminals of the newer style like yours as long as you get the bigger battery wire connected to the battery terminal of the alt.

The two field terminals are just one big connected loop of wires with-in the alternator and they don't care which way they are hooked up. Green to one terminal and the blue to the other. Now the question is do yopu have at least access to a volt meter? You need to make sure the alternator is not over charging the battery. A few here have asked the voltage, you need to know what the output voltage is at the battery terminal of the alternator. It should be no more than 14.5volts. It likely won't be that high at idle but when raised above say 1,200 RPM it shouldn't go any higher that the above voltage.
 
i just put a new alt on the car........ i have a green and a blue wire. are they both field?or is one a field and one a ground i took the alt off of my 70 /6 car, but that one has electronic ignition. but both cars had two wires going to the alt besides the the big wire that is held on by the nut
 
can someone please answer these two questions....
1) blue wire goes to field or ground
2) green wire goes to field or ground?
 
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