Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
I see alot of people who bypass the factory ammeter. Is this necessary? What's wrong with the factory ammeter that ppl do this? I would like to keep all my original gauges working is it ok to use it?
Factory ammeter
- Thread starter Dartfreak75
- Start date
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Mines Bypassed And still hooked up! I ran my Alternator Feed wire to my Starter Relay first and then a piece of Fusible Link Wire to the
old spot for it on the Bulkhead. It would still show a Discharge thus Working... but it is no longer impeding the flow to charge my battery.
People disconnect them because they're probably rated for about 15Amps and we run 60Amp alternator's now, So...
I put a Volts Gauge on the Dash hooked to the Cig Lighter, I can Rely on that.
In this Pic it show's how I Also ran an 8gauge wire (fused at both ends) from the Alternator directly to the battery for charging.
old spot for it on the Bulkhead. It would still show a Discharge thus Working... but it is no longer impeding the flow to charge my battery.
People disconnect them because they're probably rated for about 15Amps and we run 60Amp alternator's now, So...
I put a Volts Gauge on the Dash hooked to the Cig Lighter, I can Rely on that.
In this Pic it show's how I Also ran an 8gauge wire (fused at both ends) from the Alternator directly to the battery for charging.
"Is it necessary to bypass?" My answer is "it depends". How "much" do you intend to run electrically? If not much more than what the factory ran, then you probably don't need to do the bypass. Like with Vixen, all her wiring is in really good shape. The only thing I have added electrically is @crackedback's headlight harness upgrade, the aftermarket radio, which has no external amp and all of the interior lights and the trunk light. That's probably gonna be "ALL" I run. It's just something you're gonna have to decide for yourself. There's nothing "wrong" with the factory system, as long as everything is in good shape. If you plan on some real electrical upgrades though, bypassing it might be a good idea. I'm not even running electronic ignition and plan not to, so what I have now electrically is all there is. That's just one old dude's opinion.
Running a volt gauge out of the lighter is a pretty slick idea.
i kept mine. removed it, inspected the lugs and insulation and re-routed all the heavy load stuff away from it. headlights, A/C, ect on relays that don't go though it. this way it still works but it shouldn't melt down some day
I'm still running all my factory gauges with no issues for 48 years. Keep it factory, it's looks better in my opinion.
The amp meter is not really the weakest link. The two bulkhead connections that feed the amp meter are usually what goes first. In bypassing those connections, the amp meter gets bypassed a lot of the time. Lots of threads about it on here and lots of different opinions and solutions.
There is nothing wrong with ammeter. The reason people bypass the ammeter is the connectors in the bulkhead connecter. The terminals are relitively underrated for the loads they carry. That and 50 years of thermal cycle and corosion.
If you run only the stock accessories etc. and clean and tighten the terminals in the bulkhead connector you should be fine for another 50 years.
Now if you have added high amp drawing devices, radio amp, electronic ignition, etc you could be in for a meltdown.
There are a few things you can do like use a relay for your headlights, use LEDs for the other lights (be sure to get a LED compatible blinker and emergency flasher)
I use one of these. It shows volts and then switches to amp draw of the item that is plugged in. My phone is usually plugged in laying on the seat.
Also too, if you do decide to keep the factory amp gauge, remove the cluster and clean all of the connections GOOD. On mine, it is held in with little speed nuts. They also give it the electrical connection. I recently removed mine to repaint the plastic housing and put LEDs where the two instrument lights go. I noticed some white corrosion around the nuts that hold the amp gauge in, so I removed the gauge, cleaned everything up good and put it back together. Make sure the nuts are tight, but you don't have to be Superman. They were almost finger tight when I removed them, so it needed attention.
That's kinda cool......but it doesn't go well with the original style gauges. lol
I didn't actually... I tried it and it was Alway's On So, I hooked it to the Ign wire to the Ballast instead.
I unplug it and toss it in the console when I get to the show. It's nice that the cig. plugs have constant power. Damn phone always needs a charge.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
That's interesting! How did you reroute the wiring around it?
I'm glad you brought up the alternator because that was part two of my question. How do you know the amps of the alternator? The alt I have is a aftermarket one I have no clue what the amp is
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Actually in some cases it is BOTH the ammeter and bulkhead connector. The whole circuit is simply not heavy enough for heavy current applications. I melted the ammeter mounting bosses somewhat in my 70RR cluster way back in the mid 70's before Al Gore invented the internet. AND the same car suffered damage to the bulkhead connector terminals.
Even in 70?-72, some of the large sea barges used external shut ammeters which eliminated the problem. "Ma" knew the problem was there, as the cars with optional 65A alternators used modified harnesses to combat the problem. This is known loosely as "fleet police taxi" wiring. Look up in the 70--72-ish shop manuals, look up the optional 65A alternator wiring for the B bodies.
After I got out of the Navy (74) I saw a few Dodge ammeters melted from snow plow hoists, winches, or big driving lights. Looked EXACTLY like the photo in the MAD article, read it here:
Catalog
Even in 70?-72, some of the large sea barges used external shut ammeters which eliminated the problem. "Ma" knew the problem was there, as the cars with optional 65A alternators used modified harnesses to combat the problem. This is known loosely as "fleet police taxi" wiring. Look up in the 70--72-ish shop manuals, look up the optional 65A alternator wiring for the B bodies.
After I got out of the Navy (74) I saw a few Dodge ammeters melted from snow plow hoists, winches, or big driving lights. Looked EXACTLY like the photo in the MAD article, read it here:
Catalog
They are normally stamped into it somewhere.....however, that does not necessarily mean anything, as they have usually been rebuilt, regurgitated, remanufactured, or whatever, so the stamped rating might not mean a thing.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
What does crackback headlight update do?
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
Yea it's a Reman one! I didnt see any kind of ratings on the box
to start, for the headlights you can use @crackedback's kit that's pretty plug and play, or @slantsixdan also sells all the parts and you supply your own wire. i used dan's setup and it worked great. i went a little more extreme and cut out the stock fuse block and rerouted everything. so the ignition, dash lights, horn and tail lights are still off the ammeter, everything else is off the battery \ charging system.
what all are you going to add other than stock equipment?
you can call the store and have them look it up
It removes the load from the headlight switch and gives the headlights full alternator voltage through relays. In short, it brightens the crap out of the headlights and only uses the headlight switch as a trigger, instead of carrying the whole load of the headlight circuit, which it barely did with the stock setup.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
I dont plan on adding anything. I have a bluetooth board that I installed into the factory radio and its wired into the factory plug in. All the Ignition and lights are factory. No radio amps or extra lighting.
Dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
I like the sounds of that. I always hated how dim my headlights were
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
I kept mine, added a volt gauge too.
Its mostly the wiring to them that cause the death of them.
Yup.
And it depends on the year and model too.
Some years had better bulkhead arrangments for the main feeds than others.
For some car options the feed throughs went grommets instead of and/or in addition to the bulkhead connector.
1976 A-body has a remote shunt ammeter and its feeds are done differently.
One situation where the factory ammeters and wiring can have problems was high draw and high recharge options. Winches and plows fit in this catagory. Those things can suck current big time. Thats one reason they get wired direct on the battery. But then the battery needs recharging big time. So the ammeter gets no breaks during that sort of usage. That photo from the MAD website sure looks like its from a Dodge pickup.
edit: I see 67Dart273 already covered that.
Relevance to our A-bodies is this. When things like electric fuel pumps, fans, EFI are added to the car, they have potential to do the same thing.
Some of the problems could be reduced if these items were wired to the alternator side. But that can have its own drawbacks too.
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