1972 dodge dart swinger wiring shorting out

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my girlfriend bought a 72 dart swinger with a 318 the guy she bought it from had problems with it before we bought it . he claimed the problem was fixed the engine harness was replaced then burned up on him again days later he said someone replaced something under the dash when he took it to some shop to have the harness and the other part replaced. I know the red wire that goes into terminal j on the bulkhead is melted off and the wire inside coming out of the terminal has gotten pretty hot as well ive done a little research and have heard about ammeters going bad and ways to bypass them and put in fusable links or a diode but I have no clue where to put a diode or fusable link in the harness due to the fact I have never messed with dodge wiring. with the burned up engine harness being unhooked on the firewall I applied power to the terminal j wire and got power to headlights tail lights wipers and horn than it would pop the breaker on my power probe if any body has suggestions or pictures of fixing shorting out problems or really good test procedures id really appreciate it thanks !!!!!
 
Everything you need to know about bypassing the amp gauge can be viewed at madelectrical webpages. I don't have the proper link handy. If you'll look at their wiring diagram at the end of the article you'll see the large black wire has several branches from a weld splice taped up in the harness. Those go to various components.
One or more of those components is the source of the problem. Even if the actual fault is in the head light switch, dimmer switch, heater blower switch ( all manually operated switches always suspect ) It got its power from one of those branches.
Example.. just days ago another found the actual fault to be those wires going to a trans mounted neutral safety/ reverse lamp switch ( wires melted to his headers ).
Those circuits began at the fuse box which is fed by one of the aforementioned branches. Wiring diagrams and complete service manuals are free downloads. You wouldn't need to cut wires if you can follow them to their connect terminals and disconnect them to isolate one at a time.
Hope this helps
 
thanks for the time you took to give me the info i checked there sight out but it doesnt say what fusable links to use or where exactly to put them hopefully i can get some more info on this deal but thanks for the help
 
I was only using their simple drawing for illustration of the welded splice.
I didn't intend to suggest altering/bypassing things is required.
 
Thanks for the input guys ive made progress on the car I have an issue with the alternator charging at 23 volts what could cause this ???? I tried a new regulator. Could it be wired wrong????
 
1972dartkid said:
Thanks for the input guys ive made progress on the car I have an issue with the alternator charging at 23 volts what could cause this ???? I tried a new regulator. Could it be wired wrong????
Click to expand...

!!!WOW!!!

First determine if it's external to the alternator. To do this NOTICE which terminals the blue and green field wires are hooked to.

Disconnect the GREEN field wire and see if it still charges. Don't run the engine any higher RPM than you need to to determine this.

If it CONTINUES to charge, the problem is in the alternator, but we need one more check

Disconnect the BLUE field wire and see if it stops. If it does, you have confirmed the issue. IN THIS CASE DO NOT switch the field wires

Remove the alternator and inspect. It might be as simple as a broken brush holder, or hardware broken or missing that is causing one of the brushes to ground.

Remove the suspect brush. Hook your ohmeter to the alternator case. Check on the other field terminal. It should be open NO continuity. If it still shows continuity, either the remaining brush holder is AFU or

the rotor is shorted to ground. Remove the second brush, and check resistance directly from first one, then the other, of the copper slip rings to ground.

====================================================

IF YOU remove the green wire from the alternator and it STOPS charging, it is either the voltage regulator or a problem in the wiring.

Hook the wiring up "normal." Pull the VR connector off the VR. If it stops charging, Remove the VR and scrape the firewall and VR flange clean, and remount. The VR MUST BE GROUNDED. MUST.

Try again. If it overcharges, replace the VR.
 
thanks for the help i replaced voltage reg and alternator its charging at 14 . 8 is this still to much ????? and i also have a problem with the brakes it stops some what decent but pedal is at the floor or close to it i tried bleeding the fronts nothing changed
 
also what should i time this 318 at it needs plugs wires all the tune up stuff and need to overhaul the 2 barrel its leaking out of the shaft on side thanks appreciate your help
 
You need to start separate threads on each issue. And try downloading the manual for your car for things like the timing .... Try mymopar.com.

14.8v is a bit high; it this at fast idle (1500 rpm)? If so, then there is probably a corroded connection in the supply circuit to the VR.
 
not sure if 70 dart wiring is the same if it is I have 800 page manual on pdf I could send
 
Ricodart said:
not sure if 70 dart wiring is the same if it is I have 800 page manual on pdf I could send
Click to expand...

You can already download several manuals, but it might be worthwhile to post this one if it's already pdf.

I'll PM ya
 
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