My ammeter tends to "wag" from discharge to charge wildly at idle, and stay at zero while at fast idle, or driving. I go through a voltage regulator about every two months, and I need to fix this. I have had my alt checked, and everything turned out good.

So, I was wondering, how can I discard all the old wires coming out of the alt, and the ones going to the VR, and direct route them to where they need to be, instead of having them be lost in a cobble and maze of other wires? I have heard of somthing called a "shunt" or somthing to take the load off the ammeter, how do I do that?

I have looked at wireing diagrams, and I get lost. So can someone tell me where these wires go and how to hook them up right?

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'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

I hate to say I don't trust alternator testers, but after having my alternator test good, then replacing it anyways and getting a much better charging action, I have to say: "I don't trust alternator testers!"

If you've got access to another, known good, alternator, then try that before digging into the wires.

Don't forget to check the bulkhead connector carefully. Corrosion is known to build up there and cause lots of problems.

- Mac

Hmm - it sounds to me like one of more of your stator windings and/or diodes is bad in your alternator. Many of the alt. testings setups just see if the alt puts out current at all, and if you've got at least 2 good diodes and one stator winding it might pass. A good testor looks at the rectified 3-phase output.

The good news is the the alt is very easy to disassemble for inspection - just remove the brushes and the halves come apart easily. You don't need to pull the pully off (that requires a special tool) to inspect - if you need to replace parts, then you need remove pulley.

I didn't see where you gave the year & model; if you're '70-up it's very simple wiring. If I remember correctly (check your schematics), dark blue wires provide +12V ign power to the regulator and one of the FLD connections on the alt; dark green goes from the other FLD to the regulator pin off-axis. The regulator and alt must both be well grounded. Before I started replacing wires, I'd take an incandescent bulb test light (you want to draw some current) and make sure you have full +12V at both the one FLD and regulator, and a low resistance (<1ohm) connection from the other FLD to the regulator. The most likely problem is the bulkhead connections corroding; that same bulkhead pin that feeds the alt & regulator also feeds the ignition system and hence carries considerable current.

An upgrade would be to put a relay under the hood to feed charging and ignition; even on a fairly good system you can loose ~1/2 - 1V through the stock wiring.

Well, I know very little about automotive electric systems, and I have no idea what connections are on the bulkhead, or how to check them. I don't know anything about relays, what are they?

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'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

Bulkhead connector is a four section electrical connector the joins the under hood wiring to the under dash wiring harnesses. Under the dash is one large male block that fits into a rectangular hole in the fire wall housing 30 connections. On the engine side of the fire wall three individual female plugs with 10 connectors each that plug on to the large block.

Photo one shows two of the three female male connectors, and the rectangular hole which the large male connector is housed in below the wiper motor. (one of these connectors is dedicated to the wiper motor):


Photo 2, shows the male master connector found under the dash that protrudes out into the engine compartment. This is the old unit, heat damaged from an over current problem caused by corroded brass connections that I replaced.


When looking on your wiring diagram, these connectors are illustrated by two columns of five little squares with letters in each square for the large male connector on the dash side, and three sets of two columns of ten squares with corresponding letters on the engine side. This is how one follows the wiring from the dash to the engine compartment.

All the wires are numbered on the wiring diagram, and there is a color & size decoder on the edge of the diagram so you can find and identify a wire in your harness anywhere in the car.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

So How do I replace the corroded connections?

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'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

A relay is just an electrically operated switch, in other words a switch that you flip that operates a remote slave switch controlling some high current device.

Relays are used for blowing the horn, and powering the engine starter, two devices that draw a lot of amperage (flow of electrons, or juice), are two of the most common and easiest to see.

The light duty switch that a horn uses at the steering wheel can not supply enough amperage to the horn with out melting. So what the engineers did was supply a small current to the horn ring switch that sends a small current to an electromagnet in a relay that open & closes a heavy duty switch controlling a high current flow to the horn.

The little metal box with horn wires attached is the horn relay:



Same for your starter, little light switch at the key sends a signal to the starter relay which dose the heavy lifting to energize the starter motor.

The matle box next to the battery with two red wires attached is the starter relay:


There are other relays used in a car that look different than the above but work the same, that can be used run headlights, convertible top, power amp, etc.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

You will need to gather up a few simple hand tools pictured below. Left to right: "A", wire stripper; "B", wire stripper / crimper; "C" needle nose pliers; and "D", diagonal cutters. B & C are needed, A&D are overkill but make the job easer, and are not necessary for a few crimps:


You will need to get male & female brass connectors from an auto supply store that fit into Chrysler plastic housings. I purchased mine from Ron Francis Wiring because I replaced 90% of the connectors in my car, and needed other electrical widgets he carried. See photo below:


To remove existing female brass from plastic housing:
You will need to make a release tool by grinding down a small screw driver so that it can be slid into the plastic holder to depress a small spur that locks the connector in place. Once the spur is depressed, along with a slight pull on the wire, the brass connector will slide out. At this point you can clean it or replace it as needed using the crimping tool. Photo below, top screw driver before grinding, bottom narrowed by grinding:


To remove the male spade connector from the housing, you will need to compress the width of the brass blade using needle nosed pliers, and push it back into the connector. Once it is released a little tug on the wire will pull it out of the housing.

The blue wire has a new female brass connector crimped on, and the orange wire his the male crimped on. See photo below:


Housing - connector detail:
http://www.ronfrancis.com/prodinfo.asp?number=QCK%2D1

Once the brass spade connectors have been cleaned, or replaced, just slide them back into the plastic housing until they snap into place, and you are done.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Cool Thanks! I will have to try this over my christmas brake!

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'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels