Charging issue

grimley

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Hi all

Im having issues charging, I believe I am getting charge as running during the day seems to be no issue.

At night, the lights seem to be what sends me flat. My lights slowly dimm, indicator becomes very slow and then doesn't work at all.

I've replaced alternator and regulator.

On my ammeter, the gauge never gets over the middle, stays just below or when drawing a load, it obviousls drops.

I've noticed the cable for the B terminal on the alternator is heat damaged? The copper is a really dark color and stiff, however the resistance is still low so doesn't seem to be an issue.

The starter relay and ballistic resistor both look in average condition but I guess they work?

I'm out of ideas.any advice or any checks I could do would be appricated.

I'm thinking theres a high resistance somewhere but I can't find where or how to check.

Is it possible my ammeter is high resistance?
 
Do you have a Multi-meter? If you do connect it to the battery and run the car. With everything turned of and the battery charged you should get 14.5 volts on the meter at idle. If not raise the engine R.P.M. and see if the voltage increases. If it does check for the correct idle speed, if not have your new alternator tested.
 
Your car won't run with a bad ballast resistor, and won't start with a bad starter relay, so they are OK. As suggested, sounds like alternator and/or regulator problems when asked to provide higher power output like lights. New parts does not mean they're guaranteed to work unfortunately.

Also there may be issues where your ammeter power wires run through the connectors at the firewall, known as the bulkhead connector. A known trouble spot on older Mopars due a poor design (corrodes easily, and already at its' maximum for electrical load handling and hence, once corroded easily overloaded to burning up), it is the cause of many high-resistance based fires. Check them and clean them up and pack them with dielectric grease. Better yet, do the MAD conversion (look it up).
 
Sounds a lot like problem I had a few years back . . . drove me nuts. Two "new" (rebuilt) alts right out of the box . . . but BOTH of them were bad! Was basically just running off the battery . . . for a few days, anyway . . . and the ammeter readings slowly heading south.

Don't know about the higher output (higher price) alts, but the "replacement" type ones from the parts store really seem to be bad. When you finally do get one that works, then the bolt threads are stripped out of the aluminum case. Even the Heli-Coil is stripped out!

But, I agree . . . have them test your "new" alt first.
 
Hi all

Im having issues charging, I believe I am getting charge as running during the day seems to be no issue.

At night, the lights seem to be what sends me flat. My lights slowly dimm, indicator becomes very slow and then doesn't work at all.

I've replaced alternator and regulator.

On my ammeter, the gauge never gets over the middle, stays just below or when drawing a load, it obviousls drops.

I've noticed the cable for the B terminal on the alternator is heat damaged? The copper is a really dark color and stiff, however the resistance is still low so doesn't seem to be an issue.

The starter relay and ballistic resistor both look in average condition but I guess they work?

I'm out of ideas.any advice or any checks I could do would be appricated.

I'm thinking theres a high resistance somewhere but I can't find where or how to check.

Is it possible my ammeter is high resistance?

Your problem is not new and that's exactly why I run a charging system using an alternator that incorporates the regulator built right in the alternator. Less **** to go wrong, obvious when it does. I would say that the time has come to do a amp meter bypass before your next post is on how inefficient the fire department was. Integrated alternators connect directly back to the battery (which acts as an amperage buffer) so voltage and amperage are not surging through your 50 year old wiring creating high temps from wire resistance. Maybe it's time for a serious look at all electrical circuits including battery condition, amp gauge, fuse panel and especially system grounds and the bulkhead connectors. A new alternator may be the least of your problems, but hey, give it a shot. Surprisingly, the charging system is one of the simplest circuits on a car and armed with a good electrical diagram, you'll be a pro in a few hours.
 
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Why is it whenever someone has a problem and asks for advice they get sent in every direction except the right one.
Thats chasin electrical problems. I had the same issue, new alternator, wouldn't charge, was a bad alternator. Got a new one, did the bulkhead bypass, haven't had a problem since. Not saying that's gonna fix yer issue but you gotta keep chasin it. Get the multimeter like traintech said. And a wiring diagram. I still have nightmares from memorizing that thing with all my electrical problems.
 
Why is it whenever someone has a problem and asks for advice they get sent in every direction except the right one.

Can you elucidate what direction the O.P. should have been sent, or are you just being humourous? ☺ Electrical problems for many (me included) can be a bit of an overwhelming thing to chase down... most of us try to help by comparing to personal experience and known trouble spots that seem to possibly line up to the issue being asked about....
 
Why is it whenever someone has a problem and asks for advice they get sent in every direction except the right one.
That's correct.

The electrical system is pretty basic in our cars. It does depend on everything working correctly though. To diagnose the problems, you really have to go through some sort of sequence of looking and testing BEFORE you start throwing parts at it. Traintech has outlined a place to start and it's sound advice.

A simple voltmeter can tell you a lot. If it's not to spec, I like to start with the simple stuff like looking at the battery cables and cleaning them. It costs nothing but a few minutes, but may solve your problem. Same with the rest of the charging system wiring.

BTW, to the op, speaking of the wiring, you mentioned the wiring at the alternator looking bad. Checking the resistance probably won't tell you much on that one. It's more about how it behaves under load. The way to check is with a voltage drop test (google it) but if it looks bad, it probably is and I would change it out even if it's not the cause of your current problem.... and I would do that after doing the basic charging voltage test Traintech suggested.
 
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That's correct.

The electrical system is pretty basic in our cars. It does depend on everything working correctly though. To diagnose the problems, you really have to go through some sort of sequence of looking and testing BEFORE you start throwing parts at it. Traintech has outlined a place to start and it's sound advice.

A simple voltmeter can tell you a lot. If it's not to spec, I like to start with the simple stuff like looking at the battery cables and cleaning them. It costs nothing but a few minutes, but may solve your problem. Same with the rest of the charging system wiring.

BTW, to the op, speaking of the wiring, you mentioned the wiring at the alternator looking bad. Checking the resistance probably won't tell you much on that one. It's more about how it behaves under load. The way to check is with a voltage drop test (google it) but if it looks bad, it probably is and I would change it out even if it's not the cause of your current problem.... and I would do that after doing the basic charging voltage test Traintech suggested.
 
Can you elucidate what direction the O.P. should have been sent, or are you just being humourous? ☺ Electrical problems for many (me included) can be a bit of an overwhelming thing to chase down... most of us try to help by comparing to personal experience and known trouble spots that seem to possibly line up to the issue being asked about....
The first thing to do when trying to find out a problem with a charging system on any car is to put a voltage meter across the battery to see what is getting put out from the alternator. Then you proceed to investigate the problem. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MECHANIC AND A PARTS CHANGER.
 
So hard to find the difference between a mechanic and a parts changer. Let alone a mopar guy
 
The first thing to do when trying to find out a problem with a charging system on any car is to put a voltage meter across the battery to see what is getting put out from the alternator. Then you proceed to investigate the problem. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MECHANIC AND A PARTS CHANGER.

Agreed - sometimes my answers make assumptions that the first steps of that nature were taken, and sometimes I just forget the rules completely!!
 
Thanks for the replies guys, finally got around to reading them and also the articles linked.

some very helpful advice, this weekend is free so hopefully ill spend some time on this.

i do remember seeing slightly melted cable in the bulkhead plug when i cleaned up the terminals.
With the information about the ammeter gauges taking full load it does make sense and now i have a better understanding of the circuit.

thanks again, will post my findings incase anyone else ever has a similar issue.
 
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