Driving my kid around last night when the ammeter pegged high, dropped low and then stayed on the discharge side. So I went home, good thing I was close by, I guess. Now when I was driving I had the blower on low and my headlights on, and it normally runs on the first discharge mark nearest center. (if that doesn't make sense I'll try to find a picture.) Only last night it was running really low, like 3/4's of the way to the left. So I applied a little gas, and it shot right back up. Which is when it pegged and dropped.

What the <bleep> did I do now? I was able to drive home fine, and the battery is not new. Revving the engine at all did nothing to move the ammeter gauge, but when I got home, I let the car sit in park, turned off the light, turned off the blower and gauge went right back up to center.

That's what leads me to believe its the VR and not the alt, but w/o a meter I have no way of checking.

Any suggestions before I put my hand through another of my windows.


P.S. Thanks Doc, hope you got mail from me!

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The North American Wild Chihuahua lives in a mutualistic relationship with the North American Wild Cow, providing an early alert system and carrion clean up.

without any test equipment I would inspect all the wiring between the batt. and the alt. then id throw a voltage reg. on it and see what happens (as long as you didn't see or smell any smoke)

Didn't see any smoke and I have no sense of smell, so no I didn't smell any either. I'll give the wiring a lookee-loo and see if I spot anything, like a bad ground or loose wire. Then I'll try a new VR, any recommendations as to which brand, I believe SSD mentioned a Standard-Bluestreak brand as being a favorable choice.

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The North American Wild Chihuahua lives in a mutualistic relationship with the North American Wild Cow, providing an early alert system and carrion clean up.

Is this a '60-'69 car with single-field alternator, or a '70+ with dual-field?

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

Its a '71, so dual field. Sorry about that.

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The North American Wild Chihuahua lives in a mutualistic relationship with the North American Wild Cow, providing an early alert system and carrion clean up.

NAPA Echlin VR-38 or Standard-Bluestreak VR-125.

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

Thanks Dan, if the monsoon stops here, I'll try and get that this weekend.

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The North American Wild Chihuahua lives in a mutualistic relationship with the North American Wild Cow, providing an early alert system and carrion clean up.

It's not the VR, just replaced it and the ammeter is still sitting on the discharge side and will not move regardless of engine rpm. Where do I look now?

One neat little tidbit, when I use the brakes, the gauge actually goes towards the charge side, ever so very slightly.

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The North American Wild Chihuahua lives in a mutualistic relationship with the North American Wild Cow, providing an early alert system and carrion clean up.

You need to check your voltage with a meter. At the voltage regulator and at the battery. My guess is that your alternator is acting up. I had the same problem on my Dart. When I checked the voltage at the battery it would bounce all over the place from 11 to 16.5 volts with the car running.I switched the VR and had the same readings. It caused all kinds of weird lighting problems.I Found one of my rectifiers on the alternator was burnt off. If you need a meter to use let me know.

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Time to test the alternator.

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

Good stuff Dan

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Just a suggestions; Mopar alt's have really easy-to= swap inexpensive brushes; you don't even have to open the alt up. Problems like yours are often, but not always, just badly worn brushes.

Digital multimeters are so cheap nowadays I keep on in every car, just in case I need one.

I have actually changed brushes with the motor running to win a bet before.

Taking money from GM guys is like taking candy from a baby.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Hey, that's a good trick! Another: Find someone who insists that the secondary side of the ignition has to have a ground path back to the coil for the ignition to work. Remove a spark plug wire, shove a bolt in it, hand it to him, and start the engine. After he climbs up off his butt, ask him to describe the ground path between himself and the coil.

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