Hello everyone, just got back into the slant six business after a loooooong abscence. My new to me 1974 Dart has guage issues:
1: Amp guage pegs full charge all the time. Going to go put a voltmeter on it to see if it's really overcharging, or a faulty guage. Do we still do the amp meter bypass in these cars, or has someone come up with a better fix?
2 Temp guage no worky, suspect bad voltage reg in the dash cluster.
3. Fuel guage erratic, suspect bad voltage regulator in the dash.
4. Speedo no worky, stuck at 75 mph. Suspect bad speedo or cable of the gear at the trans end of the cable.

Anybody got any extra of the following that would work in a 74 Dart? I also need to replace the guage pod etself, as a hunk is missing.

Thanks,

Jeff Voth
Los Angeles[/i]

Update: Battery is reading 13.3 volts with the engine off and 14.8 with the engine running. Is that an excessive charge rate?

Yes should be 12v ign off for couple hrs and charging about 13v.

Richard

_________________
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

A stock type regulator setup is ambient temperature compensated. The regulator has a temp sensing circuit in it. The idea is the colder it is under the hood the higher a voltage is necessary to force current through and charge the battery. This is from the 1975 manual - ambient temp on left, voltage range on right.

-20F 14.9-15.9
80F 13.9-14.6
140F 13.3-13.9
Above 140 - less then 13.6

That makes more sense. It was 65 Degrees, maybe 70 degrees here in So Cal when I checked it and got 14.7 to 14.8 with the engine running. That doesn't seem like an overcharge to me. Am I mistaken?

High but within limits... aim a hair dryer or heat gun at the regulator - if you see the voltage dropping you should be ok.