My sons 73 duster (slant 6) had smoke from under the dash on his way to school. I found and replaced a section of 12 guage black wire just inside the fire wall on the inside of the car. Also found the same wire burned at the quick connect in the engine bay just behind the valve cover. I straight wired it to bypass the connection. The problem is im not getting any charge from the alternator now. I replaced the alter. and the voltage reg. and still no charge. amp meter shows nothing and the engine will kill when the pos battery cable is pulled. Im not skilled in electrical areas so it may be simple fix but im stumped. Any suggestions before I take her to the doc??

PS I changed the brake mast. cyl 2 days prior and did spill some brake fluid on the fire wall wiring while bleeding the brakes. don't know if this might have caused a short??

Thanks for helping fUNHNTT

All the charging current goes through the ammeter and they do burn out occasionally. To bypass the ammeter you can bolt the two wires together and tape them up. If you want to bypass the bulkhead connector you can run a 10 gauge wire directly to the battery from the alternator output stud, but you'd want to protect it with a fusible link.

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Joshua

First and foremost, get some good schematics. The factory manual ones are not expensive and show the color codes. Also get a decent multimeter - they are not expensive - and a 12V test light.

The burning was a symptom, not a cause - so just replacing wires without finding the cause just complicated your problem.

DOT3 is a powerful solvent and can melt many plastics, including bulkhead connectors - and the bulkhead is where many, if not most, of Mopar electrical problems begin. Before I did anything else, I'd disconnect the battery and unplug the bulkhead connectors (if you can!) and *carefully* examine every single connection for signs of overheating or arcing. You may find it a fused mess. DOT3 is water soluable, so you can rinse it off.

My schematics show that the alternator's field winding and regulator get their power from the same point as the ballast resistor and ignition module - if you check you ought to see 12V at the center pin of the voltage regulator connector and at one of the alt field windings with the ignition ON. The alternator's BAT terminal ought to always be connected to the battery even with the ignition OFF.

I presume the car runs, so you've got power to the ballast, and hence likely to the regulator and alternator. If you do, then the alternator ought to be putting out voltage at its BAT terminal, but that's not getting through the bulkhead connector to the ammeter and from the ammeter back through the bulkhead to the starter relay and from there to the battery. Measure the voltage at the BAT terminal with the car off - it ought be 12V. If it isn't, you've no path to the battery, and with the car running it will likely go very high (up to 50V), but the current can't go anywhere.

In that case, you very likely have damage at the bulkhead pin J and/or P. These are often trouble points. The connections right at the ammeter also are prone to give trouble. *Do not force the nuts off*, you'll just break the ammeter - if they don't unscrew easily, cut them off carefully - I use a Dremel #409 blade.

Once you've found the problem, you can address it several ways. If the damage is limited to just the P and J pins, you can (1) bypass them entirely just as the factory did for the HD charging systems, or (2) find a donor harness and fix your harness properly, or (3) buy a reproduction harness. If the bulkhead is badly damaged, go with (2) or (3).

If you decide to fix your harness, I strongly recommend you remove it from the car, taking notes as you go on how it was installed, and fix it out of the car, then put it back. The underhood harness is pretty easy to remove, the underdash more difficult. Some people remove the whole dash assembly as a unit, others remove the seat and work from under the dash - either will work.

If you got much DOT3 in the bulkhead, you'd probably be far better off fixing it entirely and properly now, rather than wait for
subsequent problems. You can unclip the pins and wires from the old bulkhead housing and transfer them to a new housing one at a time. If it's melted, you can use diagonal cutters to cut away plastic until you can extract the pin and wire. Chean and inspect each carefully as you go.

The secret to a trouble-free electrical system is to treat every connection as if your life depends on it - barrel crimps are just for emergency repairs.

You indicated you found and replaced a section of 12 ga black wire just inside the fire wall on the inside of the car. One end of that wire, according to your statement, was connected to the bulkhead connector on the inside of the car. What was on the other end of the wire? Was it, perhaps the amp gauge? The reason I ask is, there are many instances where the pos and neg connections on the back of the amp gauge get flakey, and a simple temporary fix for the smoking dash is to remove the (+) and (-) wires from the amp gauge and connect the two wires together with a splice. The fact that the amp gauge is reading "nothing" now is an indicating that it may have been fried.

The latest / worked on today. bypassed the amp meter and the bulk head with all new wire. unwrapped and inspected all wires on both sides of the fire wall. bought a new alter. (had it checked before I took it home) and a new volt reg. and installed them. I dont have a meter to check voltage cause I never worked on electrical in a car before. (I need one and will learn how to use it) For now though I was told that if im getting charge the car should still run if you pull the +battery cable. It still stalls when I pull it. the lights dont brighten when the rpms go up like they did before. the amp meter didnt looked burned but my guess is thats where the smoke came from. not sure of that though. Had to be a short somewhere. Thanks for helping. Im also new to this forum stuff and its a great tool!!!!

Here she is w/my son. little less than 40k original miles.

I'm suprised no one has mentioned, yet. Never remove a battery cable with the engine running.
If the alternator is working, the voltage can spike and damage electrical components. This extremely critical on newer computer cars, but can still cause problems on our older cars.

Go and buy a multi meter, and a test lite. Both should cost under $30 total. You don't need fancy.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

To prevent a second visit from "The Fire Gods", install a battery kill switch. The one I have been using on my old cars is about 7 bucks found at Wal-Mart, has a green knob, and takes about three minutes to install.

Until you get this wiring problem sorted out, kill the the power every time the car is parked by pulling one battery terminal, or that new switch you just smartly installed. The old wiring in is present condition can't be trusted, if the second coming of the Fire Gods takes place, they may not be as benevolent as the first visit.

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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

I keep an inexpensive ($2 on sale) digital multimeter from Harbor Freight in every toolbox; there's just no excuse not have one.

Charlie_S made an excellent point - the FSM warns against doing that and has for about 1/2 a century. I've personally seen an alt put out 50V, plenty to fry 12V electronics.

Joshua quite correctly pointed out you could just jumper your way around the problem for now, but if you've not identified the root of the problem and address it, you're gambling with another fire and you ought to take precautions.