electrical problems...

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no1newb

no1newb

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OK, so i rewired my alternator strait to the battery, not thinking it was going to be energized the whole time, and the battery was dead today. but after i disconnected the alternator from the terminal and took the battery out to charge it, i checked the resistance between the positive wire and negative wire and it was still off the meter. what could have possibly happened. my fuel gauge and oil light didn't work either. my car stopped running when ign1 was on, and i have MSD with no ballast. so i just ran the ignition switch all to ign2 and that seemed to have worked, and i tapped off the end of ign1. this was a temporary fix, but i feel like i may have messed something up somehow.
 
so i should have studied the wiring diagram before wiring it the way i did, but i still dont know where it is shorting.
 
no1newb said:
OK, so i rewired my alternator strait to the battery, not thinking it was going to be energized the whole time, and the battery was dead today.
Click to expand...

Wiring your alternator output (red wire) electrically to the positive (red wire) of the battery is not wrong. The alternator must be connected (electrically) to the battery to allow it to charge. This will not cause your battery to go dead. Granted, you should have placed a fusible link wire between your alternator and your battery to protect the circuit.

Did you keep the starter relay in the circuit between the output of the alternator and the battery?

Did you do other modifications to get power into the dash (fuse box, ignition switch, etc.) What were those changes?


no1newb said:
...but after i disconnected the alternator from the terminal and took the battery out to charge it, i checked the resistance between the positive wire and negative wire and it was still off the meter. what could have possibly happened.
Click to expand...

Exactly what positive and negative wires? Off the meter? Do you mean that there is infinite resistance (an open) between ground and hot with battery removed? If yes, that's correct.

no1newb said:
...my fuel gauge and oil light didn't work either. my car stopped running when ign1 was on, and i have MSD with no ballast. so i just ran the ignition switch all to ign2 and that seemed to have worked, and i tapped off the end of ign1. this was a temporary fix, but i feel like i may have messed something up somehow.
Click to expand...

Without knowing all the changes you made, in relation to an original wiring diagram, it's difficult to help you troubleshoot. You defintely need a factory wiring diagram. Then you need to document the changes you made to help isolate the problem(s).
 
I know I've had some stupid posts and all that. I'm learning as I go, with no prior experience, I've just taken ideas from here and there. anything in particular I need to study up before I do anything else stupid?
 
In this case it might be good if you could find someone locally to have a second set of eyes.

Making changes without really understanding them or even being able to describe what you have done makes it REALLY hard for us to advise ya.
 
If you don't have a wiring diagram I see that MyMopar.com has it online.



Many of us have been where you are, what about getting a factory service manual?
 
yeah I downloaded the wiring diagram for a 65 Plymouth valiant/barracuda. ive been going over it a lot today trying to figure it out.
 
Well this is going to sound stupid but the ign wire for the alternater was the wire I thought was charging my battery, and the other wire was just a common ground. Correct me if I'm wrong but the black wire that goes to the ameter is the one that charges it right. And the ign wire is just switched power.
 
The black from the Alt runs into the car and connects to the amp gauge then from the other side of the Amp gauge it comes back out with a red wire,through the bulkhead with a fuseable link and back to black again before tieing into the starter relay then from the relay to the battery.
AL
 
Right, I got that, for some reason I thought the ign wire charged the system, I didn't really think it through though.
 
I'm not trying to be mean here---but if you want us to answer questions you are going to have to be more specific with your descriptions, AND post what year/ model your car is. (An avatar is just a picture, we can 'assume.')

So the important stuff is this, referring to this diagram, you tell me what YEAR your car is.

(I random picked a '65 Val/ Barracuda:)

http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1965/65ValiantBarracudaA.jpg

http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1965/65PolaraMonacoB.JPG

One thing to keep in mind about the ammeter, is that EVERYTHING (except the starter) is hooked to ONE terminal of the ammeter, and ONLY the battery is hooked to the other side

This means that the charging wire from the stud of the alternator originally goes through the bulkhead connector, to the welded splice in the harness, and to one side of the ammeter.

(On the 65 diagram, I see that they show it may not go through the bulkhead "main" connector, but goes through separately? Is that right?)

You can follow this, find the alternator on diagram "B" and follow the thick black up and off the left of the page, then refer to diagram "A" where it comes back on the page at top right

Notice that the black comes in and down the page, to a SPLICE not far from the headlight switch. THIS SPLICE is "infamous" on all Mopars of this ere, and is taped up inside the under-dash harness. On this diagram, it comes in from the alternator, feeds off to the headlight switch, the ammeter, the instrument panel, and the red with tracer feeds back OUT the bulkhead to the horn relay

The BATTERY (on this diagram) comes straight UP off the start relay labeled "fusible link" goes through the connector (firewall) on a red wire and to the ammeter



Now there is ONE very important wire for ignition/ charging

Go way down to the bottom of diagram "B" and find the regulator. You'll see a "dark blue" on the IGN terminal of the regulator

NOTICE that one of those runs up to the "resistor" (coil/ ballast)

The other wire goes straight up the page to "B" on the bulkhead connector. THIS GOES directly into the car and to the ignition switch, and IS the ignition and regulator supply voltage for the car. This "dark blue" STAYS that color for many years in these cars and is known as "ignition run" or "ign 1"

THIS DARK BLUE, then, supplies the coil voltage and voltage to the regulator to operate the charging system

The OTHER important wires for start run are:

On the start relay you will see a yellow, going to "C" on the bulkhead connector. This is the "start" signal which comes from the ign switch when you twist to start

The brown off the right side of the start relay is GROUND when the transmission is in park/ neutral from your neutral safety switch, and allows the relay to "fire."

Also important is a THIRD wire coming from the ignition switch which ALSO is only hot in "start", and this is the "coil resistor bypass" circuit, known in the shop manual as "ign2"

To follow this wire, go down to the bottom of diagram B and find the coil resistor. Find the brown coming straight up off the top of the resistor, which goes up to "D" on your bulkhead connector. THIS GOES directly to the ignition switch, is a separate set of contacts in the ign switch, and that is the only thing this circuit does----when the key is twisted to start, it shoots battery voltage right directly to the coil for a hot spark during cranking.
 
What I have right now is the brown wire is hot when ign1 and ign2 is on since I don't have the ballast and there is a short somewhere along the dark blue wire. But the way the alternater is hooked up is weird from the previous owner. The regulator has both wires going to the alternater and one small black one going to ign1 and the black one going to the fire wall. And yes its a 65 barracuda and it has two posts for the ameter on the fire wall next to the bulkhead instead of part of it.
 
Does the alternator have one or two "push on" connectors.

Is the regulator the original "up to / including 69?"

1968-1969-Road-Runner-GTX-MoPar-NORS-USA-VOLT-REGULATOR-for-sale_350274082004.jpg


or is it the 70/ later electronic regulator:

a20792a12d51fa8d2bfe25_m.JPG
 
its the second one, when the guy before me put the 318 from a 73 barracuda in he included the ignition system, so it has the last one. Im pretty sure my problem was hooking up that wire to the alternator, I took the risk and drove it to work today, and from 4-10:20 it kept 12v and started right up after i got off. I should know for sure tomorrow.
 
OK, the second one makes more sense. What you have going on, there, is two push on connections at the alternator. BOTH regulator connections hook to the regulator (or can) and the BLUE one from the regulator branches off and comes from the "ignition1" or dark blue. That supplies voltage from the key to the regulator and to one side of the alternator field.

It's why I suggested you find a local guy. This thing has obviously been modified, and "we cannot guess" what's been done.
 
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