This is a brand new problem that started today. My factory ammeter has always worked perfectly (as do all my other guages) but today with any sort of throttle, the needle would peg to "C". If I let off then it would go just between mid way and "C". I thought I could smell a slight electrical burn but I may have imagined that. I run a Mopar EI with a black box. I believe my alternator has a built in regulator. The other thing I noticed is that when I did an under hood inspection, I found the alternator to be really hot to the touch.

Any insight would be appreciated, I can't afford to have any down time with the little wagon.

Thanks, Pat

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Your voltage regulator is faulty. Stop running the car at once until this is fixed, or you'll do extensive damage to the car's electrical system.

Mopar charging systems, as far back as infinity and as recently as this year, do not use internally-regulated alternators. If yours has an internal regulator, it's something significantly different than stock and you'll need to describe it in detail.

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

Sorry, not knowing the exact details of my alternator pressured me into a guess, I'm O.K. now. I'll replace the VR immediately and see if my problem improves. Stay tuned.

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New regulator installed and behaving as it should. Quick fix...it's my favorite kind of fix. Let's hope there was no unseen damage caused by the drive home with the faulty regulator.

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One way I've seen this failure precipitated is by loss of regulator ground. Run a good ground loop (14ga wire ought to be plenty) from the battery negative terminal to the regulator base, and from the regulator base to the alternator housing. Many alternators have a "GRD" hole in the rear half of the housing; use a short self-tapping screw to secure the wire to this hole (short so that the screw doesn't protrude too far into the alternator and cause damage). If no GRD hole on your alternator, secure the wire to one of the three through-bolts with a ring terminal.

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

Sound advice. What are the part #s again for the non-Chinese VR's? I know my local shop stocks Ecklin and Blue Streak.

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Blue Streak VR-128, Echlin VR-1001.

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