I have the 63 Dart I call Dobie, with a voltage regulator problem. While driving at higher rpms than idling, the amp meter went all the way up, like it was really charging, on a new battery. I would drive it two miles, come back, and water was coming out of the top of the battery, like it was boiling. So I bought a new voltage regulator, and I see two hookups for it. One side says FLD, and the other IGN. So I pull off the old one. It is a lot smaller, like a third of the sixe of the new one. But it had three wires going into it. One wire on one side. And two wires in the same connection cover as the other one. When I pulled off the one wire, all looked okay. When I pulled on the two wires, only the cover came off. The connections were black, like it got really hot. And it was hard to get them off. Where the red wire was, a H was next to that. Where the green wire was, a B was next to that.

So now I have three wires, two of them marked H & B, and the other one unmarked, that I have to put on two connections on the new one. Can you imagine me not knowing too much about this stuff being confused?

Any help out there? Thanks.

H'mmm. Did your old voltage regulator look like this:



or maybe like this:



or, was it totally different and looked more like this:



Assuming your '63 is like most others, and the wiring hasn't been changed, the wires to the "IGN" and "FLD" terminals on the regulator should be easy to figure out, because they're totally different styles. One is a 1/4" spade push-on terminal, and the other is a flag terminal with a screw hole in the middle of it. The third wire is the mystery. It could be a ground wire, did it connect to the regulator's housing or mounting plate, or was it connected to an actual terminal?

You will need to repair or replace burnt or cooked wires for the repair to work properly and last...

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

It didn't look like any of those. See how the covers have the spades coming out from the bottom, but to the sides? Now picture that cover, with the top of it up against the firewall, and on the bottom, three spade connections, shooting outward from the bottom, not shooting out from the side. I am assuming it is the voltage regulator, as it looks the most like the new one. It just has more wire connections.

Okay, I think I see the problem now. The two connections I see on another box look like they should go to this new regulator. I thought that was the ballast resistor. And with me bypassing it with the new ignition hookup, that would explain my problem. But now I am perplexed on what this other piece is, with the three connectors. It was located just above and to the left of the master cylinder.

I think you got the starter relay confused with the voltage regulator.
HyperValiant

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1960 Hyper-Pac Valiant(rolling test-bed)
1963 Valiant V2OO(Son's summer project,- he just turned 15 )
1972 Valiant 4dr(Daughter Kelly's repair in progress)
1974 Valiant (v8) daughter Kelly's work in progress

BINGO - it is the starter relay. Thanks. I put in the new voltage regulator I bought. As even though the old one had the same connections, the covers were totally different. The original one was like a rectangular box. I am definately not a mechanic. But boy am I learning the hard way. I looked again at the wires and connections to the starter relay, and it wasn't burnt at all. Just totally corroded. So I cut back the wire a couple of inches, and put new spade connectors on. And cleaned up the relay a bit. It is now back in place. So I am almost done. I now have to bypass the real ballast resistor. This time I wised up and looked at a picture of a new one on the Kragen site. I should have done that in the first place. And that is how I knew you pegged the starter relay - from a picture from their site. Live and learn. Now tomorrow I will be doing that next step. And I might be good to head to Redding on Saturday. We will see.... Thanks goes to you and Dan for the help.

It sounds more like the horn relay.
Does the unit have a big threaded stud coming out of it?
DD

63DartDude, good job getting things back up and working. It will pay you back enormously to go and buy the three books described in this thread.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.