This^^^
You can and you did. The danger in doing this was that the cause of the smoke had not been identified yet. Just testing for resistance or continuity to ground would have let you know if there was a serious short.
Found my dads original 1971 duster!
- Thread starter dads71
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dads71
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Ya, I hear you. Mine is definitely a bit different looking than that one. I’ll call them tomorrow and maybe they can tell me if there’s has the ammeter in it or if they’ve designed it with something else in its place. The builder ordered the circuit board from them, so I’m not familiar. Thanks, mattax
dads71
Well-Known Member
Good to hear!
This looks OK.
What was touching?
As far as the ammeter goes. Take it off and check the studs are tight and then test for resistance. It shouldn't have any measureable resistance. Compare to touching the meters probes together. That's about it for the meter. There's no electronics . Its just mechanical.
The fuel gage is a bit more complicated because of its dual function but for a guy who can do as much as you do I think you can tackle it too (if you want).
What was touching?
As far as the ammeter goes. Take it off and check the studs are tight and then test for resistance. It shouldn't have any measureable resistance. Compare to touching the meters probes together. That's about it for the meter. There's no electronics . Its just mechanical.
The fuel gage is a bit more complicated because of its dual function but for a guy who can do as much as you do I think you can tackle it too (if you want).
dads71
Well-Known Member
So is it safe to assume that the fuseable link is ok since the car got power to run the ignition/starter? I’ll start by checking for power before and after it with a test light
dads71
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I’ll go take a picture of the stud that looked like it had been arced at some point
dads71
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dads71
Well-Known Member
Right at the base
dads71
Well-Known Member
Here’s a pic of it off. Studs are tight. You can see the burn mark here better. Just about to test it for resistance. Have to google how to. lol. Just found my multi meter
dads71
Well-Known Member
I’ll check the fuseable link and try to get a picture too
dads71
Well-Known Member
I just tried checking resistance. It reads .000 when I touch the probes to eachother and still reads .000 when I touch one probe to each of the studs on this. The is the ammmmeter, correct?
dads71
Well-Known Member
Yes. Thats exactly what mine looks like!
So what's our best guess?
Mine is the second nut wasn't snugged down - but its just a guess. Does the ring terminal also have some black ?
That's as good as we can get with a basic multimeter unless we set up a test circuit.
IMO - and its just my opinion - is that there nothing to indicate a poor connection if the studs aren't loose and the meter shows zero.
There may be two seperate issues.
Reasons are this
1. That little black doesn't seem like the result of something that created noticible smoke. It looks something that sparked.
2. If the short to ground was there, or anywhere in the battery connected lines, it would have smoked when the battery was hooked up.
My understanding is the smoking and smell occured when the key was in run (or maybe start). That means the connection that smoked was downstream of the key switch. Something or some branch of the run or accessory circuit.
Possibilities:
One issue may have been no battery power getting through because the connection at the ammeter was loose (nut stripped or not tightened enoguh)
A second issue is something shorted or overheated (another loose connection) that still has to be found. But its most likely fed by the run circuit, possibly by the accessory circuit. Since the fuel gage smelled bad, probably worth looking at next.
Reasons are this
1. That little black doesn't seem like the result of something that created noticible smoke. It looks something that sparked.
2. If the short to ground was there, or anywhere in the battery connected lines, it would have smoked when the battery was hooked up.
My understanding is the smoking and smell occured when the key was in run (or maybe start). That means the connection that smoked was downstream of the key switch. Something or some branch of the run or accessory circuit.
Possibilities:
One issue may have been no battery power getting through because the connection at the ammeter was loose (nut stripped or not tightened enoguh)
A second issue is something shorted or overheated (another loose connection) that still has to be found. But its most likely fed by the run circuit, possibly by the accessory circuit. Since the fuel gage smelled bad, probably worth looking at next.
dads71
Well-Known Member
No. The ring terminal was fine. It was as if a wire touched there or something, at some point
Good to see that you are digging in brother. You will have a great bond with that car being it was your dad's, and you are making it right. Keep up the good work
dads71
Well-Known Member
Absolutely. Definitely not the cause of the smoke. The gauge cluster with ammeter in it all smells really bad of electrical burning smell. I’m thinking fuel one might be bad. If that’s the case, just have to figure out what cause it, I guess
dads71
Well-Known Member
Thanks a lot!!Good to see that you are digging in brother. You will have a great bond with that car being it was your dad's, and you are making it right. Keep up the good work
dads71
Well-Known Member
I’ll check again in the morning for a burnt wire etc. We looked pretty good today did didn’t see anything. A bad ground or a ground not hooked up couldn’t cause anything other than not working, could it? Not much was done right by the idiot builder. When we pulled the dash today he didn’t have much hooked up at all. Damaged vent cables, broken Speedo cable that wasn’t hooked up, radio not hooked up, no speaker, ground wires not hooked to anything. Crazy. He said that the dash and electrical was completely done. Lol
H',m interesting.
A loose connection is my only guess right now since when you directly connected the battery wires the car started and ran.
Since we're not confident of the where the break was, it wouldn't hurt to gently tug and push on the wires at the bulkhead connected to see the terminals aren't loose. The terminals have barbs on them sometimes they don't catch or hold.
If this were mine and I was bypassing the ammeter, I would not simply attach the 2 wires together and have them "hanging in space." Instead, I would bolt both wires to 1 terminal of the ammeter posts and call it good. This way, you know the wires are firmly anchored together in a fixed position and will not someday have the insulating tape fall off and accidentally touch something since that would be a dead short. Perhaps Mr @Mattax may have an opinion on that as well.
Well done so far with all of your testing and debugging and buffing, etc, etc. You have a great looking car to be proud of!
dads71
Well-Known Member
Cool. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow!
dads71
Well-Known Member
Thanks. I agree 100%. I would never leave it that way. To be honest I’m still not sure why or if I should permanently bipass it anyway. I still need to get power to the rest of the car. Have to come up with the final plan once things are sorted out. Thanks you! So excited to drive it for the first time
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