wire from alternator to battery??

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sniekamp

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On the 74 dart I bought the guy before me put what looks like a thick speaker wire running from the alternator to the battery. Is this supposed to be there and if so why? I suspect something is wrong because when I turn on my lights, the gauge I believe that is for the alternator, drops down to almost nothing. Any ideas or comments?
 
A lot of owners will run a larger gauge wire from the BATT stud on the alternater to the BATT post on the starter relay ( same thing as going to the battery ).
Since your amp gauge shows discharge, With or without that added wire you have another problem in the charging system. There are faults to be found with simple visual inspections and faults that will require a volt meter.
I leave the long dianostic posts to others. Good luck
 
sniekamp said:
On the 74 dart I bought the guy before me put what looks like a thick speaker wire running from the alternator to the battery. Is this supposed to be there and if so why? I suspect something is wrong because when I turn on my lights, the gauge I believe that is for the alternator, drops down to almost nothing. Any ideas or comments?
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sounds like someone rigged the wiring, I would replace the speaker wire with the correct gauge automotive wire with proper end terminals. Next if your voltage gauge still drops check the voltage directly at the battery with the car running when someone turns lights on, if it still drops most likely altenator, auto parts store can test all this for free also if you dont feel comfortable doing it. (auto zone, advance auto)
 
sniekamp said:
On the 74 dart I bought the guy before me put what looks like a thick speaker wire running from the alternator to the battery. Is this supposed to be there and if so why? I suspect something is wrong because when I turn on my lights, the gauge I believe that is for the alternator, drops down to almost nothing. Any ideas or comments?
Click to expand...

this is probably what was attempted. i recently did this bypass and added a volt meter, and everything is working like a charm
 

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If the ammeter still reads, the wire that was added is not all that large. You need to take a voltmeter and measure running battery voltage, see what you have. It may also be that "they" hacked up some other wiring in the car, who knows?
 
Hacked or not,bypassing the ammeter is a good idea. Ive seen those melt when they get old or a hi-amp alternator is used.
 
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