I have a 66 dart with a 1978 225, I have just purchased the car and begun to sort it it out. From what I can tell it has the alternator and voltage regulator from the 1978. When the battery wasn't charging I replaced the alternator and voltage regulator with ACDELCO 3342089 and VR125. The wire from the alternator appears to go from the bat terminal on the alternator to the electric block plugin(red wire) then come out and to the ignition starter relay(with a blue with white stripe wire) (I think the ignition starter relay to be of the 66 variety from the pics on Rockauto) onto a stud which also has a lead to the battery and another smaller gauge purple wire (what I assume goes to the horn relay) on the same stud. The two fld wires run to the voltage regulator. The motor was put in in 2004 according to the notepad in the jockey box but I doubt it was ever run...I have checked the battery ground. The amp gauge works, It pegs out when starting then goes down to middle of the gauge when running. I have edited this as I have chased some wires today.


Does it matter which prong the fld wires go on the alternator?
Do I need to change out the the ignition starter relay? To the 1978 variety or just stick with the 66?
How can I tell if I have a shunt style or full flow amp meter?
The voltage meter in the dash does not have any wires going to it where should I pull wires from?
What should I check next?

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Here are links to wiring diagrams that may help you diagnose electrical issues. Think of electron flow as water through a hose.

Also remember you are working on a car that may have had many owners with varying degrees of skill and regard to "what came with the car".

I'm sure there are others on this board with greater knowledge that will help you better.

http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1966/66DartA.jpg

http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1966/66DartB.jpg

The wiring diagrams helped me chase some of the wires down, I have not solved the charging issue yet.

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Voltage regulator's at least theoretically OK. There are two reasons to be very wary of "remanufactured" alternators. For one thing, their quality and reliability is generally poor no matter whose name is on the box. Also, you very likely got one with a higher output (more amps) than the original, which might sound like an upgrade, but the car's wiring was marginal for the low output original alternator, and you stand to suffer extensive damage if you don't upgrade the charging system wiring one way or another.
That's not correct. The regulator in the '70-up system (which is what you have, if a VR-125 regulator plugs in) controls the ground path of the alternator's field circuit. So a wire runs from ignition-on +12v to one of the alternator's two FLD terminals, and a wire runs from the other FLD terminal to the regulator. If that's not how yours is set up, fix it so it is. Refer to diagrams of your '70-up alternator/regulator here and here.
Well, now wait a minute…that indicates that the charging system is working (though "pegs out when starting" is another indication that your alternator's too big for the car's wiring…upgrade that wiring soon!). What indication do you have that the battery's not charging?
No.
No. And it's a starter relay, not an ignition starter relay.
Yours is a full-current ammeter.
A voltmeter was not available in these cars originally; it sounds like you're talking about a gauge somebody has added. If you want to wire it up, one wire goes to +feed (a circuit that's live at battery voltage when the ignition is switched on) and the other wire goes to ground.

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Well, now wait a minute…that indicates that the charging system is working (though "pegs out when starting" is another indication that your alternator's too big for the car's wiring…upgrade that wiring soon!). What indication do you have that the battery's not charging?


Battery slowly dies as car is run to the point of not providing spark, causing backfires. When checked the battery is dead, then I recharge and it runs fine until the battery drains.

That's not correct. The regulator in the '70-up system (which is what you have, if a VR-125 regulator plugs in) controls the ground path of the alternator's field circuit. So a wire runs from ignition-on +12v to one of the alternator's two FLD terminals, and a wire runs from the other FLD terminal to the regulator. If that's not how yours is set up, fix it so it is. Refer to diagrams of your '70-up alternator/regulator here and here.

I will chase these wires and fix if indicated.

I will go and read your prior post about fixing/upgrading the wiring.

Thanks for the help

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How do you know the battery itself is any good?

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

Just got a new one on warranty replacement from O'Riely's. I will check with a DMM when my wife gets back from town with it.(It is at least a 100 mile round trip to town). I was reading about the wiring fix what size single wire would you recommend,6 gauge or 4 gauge with 50 amp fuses at both ends? I need to siphon out the fuel in the tank, it is old and makes working on everything else more difficult.

I found a break in the coating on the wire coming from the alternator to the wiring block. After taping the hole up the amp gauge only goes up to about 30 amps, then fades to 0 after starting. I hope this fixed the charging issue until I can order the wire and ends and fuses to reroute the alternator bat wire straight to the battery.

As soon as I get this running decent I need to hit you up for the good turn signal indicator switch and some improved headlights, they look nice. I already tried one of the cheap switches, it lasted 4 turns.

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Twin 10ga wires. 50A fuse at each end of each wire.
Yeah, they're like that! Gimme a shout when you're ready.

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