Need some electrical help with my ‘68 Plymouth Valiant 100

[67Dart273]

You normally do not want the 60A "big" regulator for smaller alternators as the two draw differing field current. But nowadays, car parts are not what they were. If you buy a parts store replacement regulator, it will probably resemble the old one, but may have a shorter case, and will be solid state instead of electro mechanical. Re-read what I posted earlier about voltage drop. That is the major cause of over charging and pulsation. The old electro mechanical (relay type) VR can cause that but is not the prime cause, usually

 

[67Dart273]

The alternator makes and alternating electric current (AC), but the car uses non-alternating current (DC).
.
the car's charging wiring, including wiring to the ammeter in the dash, is not large enough to handle the increased current.
But that's a subject for about a hundred other pre-existing threads.

- Eric

I would have simplified this greatly, and added, that the car's alternator makes AC INTERNALLY in the alternator. An alternator normally does not output anything except DC. That is, simply and practically speaking.

The too large vs stock alternator is a danger to stock wiring, and is why you must examine, repair, or bypass the ammeter circuit. THAT IS certainly for later discussion

 

[snailgarden]

You normally do not want the 60A "big" regulator for smaller alternators as the two draw differing field current. But nowadays, car parts are not what they were. If you buy a parts store replacement regulator, it will probably resemble the old one, but may have a shorter case, and will be solid state instead of electro mechanical. Re-read what I posted earlier about voltage drop. That is the major cause of over charging and pulsation. The old electro mechanical (relay type) VR can cause that but is not the prime cause, usually

This is off topic (again I’m sorry), but just noticed this…. Anyone have any idea what this entails? Does this have to do with the intake gasket? The entire hole is stripped and the bolt was fully corroded. This is close to the area that had been leaking coolant (the coolant is coming out of that crack to the right of this hole.)

 

[Dana67Dart]

This is off topic (again I’m sorry), but just noticed this…. Anyone have any idea what this entails? Does this have to do with the intake gasket? The entire hole is stripped and the bolt was fully corroded. This is close to the area that had been leaking coolant (the coolant is coming out of that crack to the right of this hole.)

I would suggest you start a new thread for the coolant leak to keep things organized.

in the mean time if the threads on the bolt are gone and there is coolant leaking there, that is most likely a BIG part of the problem.

What part of Utah are you in?

There may be members in the area who wouldn't mind spending a day with you going over some of the things.


as for the bolt. post a photo of the bolt out of the hole.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Still waiting on my service manual too, hopefully it gets here soon but maybe won’t until after Thanksgiving.

this link will download a ZIPped Plymouth 68 Factory service manual. It would be eastly downloaded on a PC rather than a phone BUT it can be done.

I don't know your computer skills so here in a nut shell.

1. click on the link
2. a download will start
3. once it is downloaded you will need to unZIP it (Zip is a file compression program) Windows & Apple PCs, should be able to decompress it. Android and Apple phones I'm not sure if they can decompress ZIP files without an App.
4. Save the decompressed file in a convenient location. It will be a PDF type file

Apple Phone Decompress
Open a ZIP file
Open the Files app
Find the ZIP file or archive you want to open
Tap the ZIP file or archive
A folder with the same name as the ZIP file will be created
Tap the folder to open it
Tap the files within the folder to view them

Android Phone Decompress
Open the Files app
Find the zip file
Select the zip file
Tap Extract
The extracted files will be saved in the same folder as the original zip file

 

[snailgarden]

I would suggest you start a new thread for the coolant leak to keep things organized.

in the mean time if the threads on the bolt are gone and there is coolant leaking there, that is most likely a BIG part of the problem.

What part of Utah are you in?

There may be members in the area who wouldn't mind spending a day with you going over some of the things.


as for the bolt. post a photo of the bolt out of the hole.

I will make a separate post for the coolant leak.

So I don’t have a photo of the bolt, but what I did find out today after spending all day outside with it, the bolt has somehow been broken off inside of the hole…when the bolt is out of the hole, it leaks coolant like crazy. Guessing this is the coolant plug for the intake manifold. I don’t think I can get the bolt piece out let alone fix this part, so I need to find help with this somehow or just take it into a shop.

I am located in northern Utah, Ogden specifically.

 

[snailgarden]

this link will download a ZIPped Plymouth 68 Factory service manual. It would be eastly downloaded on a PC rather than a phone BUT it can be done.

I don't know your computer skills so here in a nut shell.

1. click on the link
2. a download will start
3. once it is downloaded you will need to unZIP it (Zip is a file compression program) Windows & Apple PCs, should be able to decompress it. Android and Apple phones I'm not sure if they can decompress ZIP files without an App.
4. Save the decompressed file in a convenient location. It will be a PDF type file

Apple Phone Decompress
Open a ZIP file
Open the Files app
Find the ZIP file or archive you want to open
Tap the ZIP file or archive
A folder with the same name as the ZIP file will be created
Tap the folder to open it
Tap the files within the folder to view them

Android Phone Decompress
Open the Files app
Find the zip file
Select the zip file
Tap Extract
The extracted files will be saved in the same folder as the original zip file

Thanks for this I’ll have to get my laptop up and moving to download this.

so while I was looking at the coolant leak I decided to maybe take some time to try and figure out what is going on with the wiring, since the heater doesn’t work nor does the radio (not end of the world, but just curious why it doesn’t), I tested all of the fuses and the heater/AC fuse doesn’t work. Some other specific AC fuse doesn’t work, and the radio/rear light fuse doesn’t work. I replaced the ones that were dead and still nothing. I then used a circuit/fuse tester with the light on it, touched those fuse ends and none of the three lit up, even with new fuses in them. So I was curious if the fan motor worked at all and for some reason the fan motor wires are internal not on the firewall under the hood, so i unscrewed the glove compartment box and found them behind it.

I used a wire and wrapped one end around one of the fuses that worked (around the park light/headlight fuse), and touched it to those fan motor wires and they started working. I couldn’t really figure out what else was causing those fuses to not work (besides the AC one because there is no AC compressor at all) and unsure on how to wire chase this issue. For now so i have defrost/heat at least, I used a wire and tucked it around the headlight/park light fuse then connected it around the heater/AC fuse, so when I have the headlights or parking light on, I can utilize the heater and defroster. It gets snowy and cold here in the winter, so it’s nice to have.