ammeter wiring question

[hunt2elk]

Has anybody found a decent way to eliminate the power going to the ammeter through the bulkhead connecter without butchering the harness? I am debating changing to a voltmeter to eliminate any dash fire possibilities in my 69 RR. My car is all stock except for a modern radio. All new wiring harnesses in the engine compartment. I am having a hard time thinking about drilling out the bulkhead connecter or cutting and splicing my new harness. Or don't I really need to worry about this with basically stock loads?

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

The easy way is to just bypass the ammeter,disconnect and use a small nut & bolt and tape up with lotsa electrical tape.I always had to deal with the melted wires & junction block after the meltdown on friends cars.:eusa_boohoo:

 

[Slantsixdan]

You don't have to choose either having an ammeter or having a reliable electrical system. And no, I'm not talking about the hack-azz "solutions" offered at the (chevy-head) Mad Electric site. I much prefer the clean and technically correct ideas and components from R/T Engineering. They can rework stock ammeters to handle up to 70 amps efficiently, and they can convert stock ammeters into voltmeters (complete with a new gauge face that looks like factory equipment). They also sell a really good electronic instrument cluster voltage limiter. Their website's got a bunch of really good info on it, but you have to mouse around awhile to find it; the organisation isn't completely obvious. For example, I know there's a pic of one of their voltmeter conversions somewhere on the site, but I can't find it at the moment! Be sure to see this page. They actually have intelligent people who actually answer the phone (and who actually own Mopars, and who actually know what the he|| theyre talking about when it comes to Mopar electrical systems), so if you get fed up trying to find what you want on the site, call them.

RTE informed me when I did call them that they have upgraded ammeters on the shelf for popular applications, either with good used/cleaned-up faces or with newly-restored/reprinted faces. $75 or $99, respectively. I bought one of the good used ones and it is perfectly nice.

 

[hunt2elk]

I should clarify that besides all the power through the actual amp gauge, there has been alot of discussion about the terminal ends in the bulkhead connector not being heavy enough resulting in melted plastic and burned/arcing push together ends. Slantsixdan- how does RTE solve this?

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

HEY S/S Dan,I'm a hack/*** and a MOPAR guy.My severe case of HEMI-ITIS blurs my vision at times:munky2:Thanks for the "edjumacation":tongue8:

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

HEY S/S Dan,I'm a hack/*** and a MOPAR guy.My severe case of HEMI-ITIS blurs my vision at times:munky2:Thanks for the "edjumacation":tongue8:

Tell him what really blurs your vision Hemi-itis! :icon_weed::monkeydance:

 

[Slantsixdan]

:icon_weed::monkeydance:

 

[waygun]

Simple bypass without cutting into the harness is..
Add a wire from the BATT stud of the alternator use a fusible link,connect it to the BATT stud at the starter relay.
10 minutes,done.
No load on ammeter anymore-just add a voltmeter.

 

[mr.belvedere]

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

yep.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Question.I have a stock 67 gtx I was able to get all my gauges to work. if AMP gauges at the dash are troublesome.They should I by-passed, and then install a VOLT gauge.

 

[Meep-Meep]

The high current passing through the bulkhead is troublesome. Over time the connection fills up with moisture and oxidation develops causing excessive resistance and that creates heat. If you notice on early 60's MoPars you will see a very different arrangement for the power feed through the bulkhead. It's basically a piece of flat bar with the wire screwed on with a ring lug. I have basically duplicated this installation on a couple of cars. Not the 10 min fix but it looks somewhat factory.

I don't think the gauge itself is troublesome but rather the connections. High resistance = heat, or I^2R (Ohm's law). Clean everything really well and you should be OK. The cars didn't go up in flames when they were new and all the connections were good.

The RTE solution looks like some good stuff.

 

[hunt2elk]

I checked out the RTE website and got some good information from this. They do show drilling out the bulkhead connecter and eliminating the push on connections. I don't want to do this on my car because of my new engine harness, but understand why it would be done if keeping the original wiring. I am thinking of just running the alt. wire to the starting relay with a fuseble link like stated in a earlier post. Then putting both wires on the ammeter to one stud. Basically using both existing ammeter wires for the cars electric accesaries. I am thinking the heavy current draw from the alt. to battery will take the path of least resistance and not go through the bulkhead connecter. Then just add a extra voltmeter and I shouldn't have to worry about any overheating issues and my wiring will look almost stock. Any thoughts?

 

[MarPar]

:sSig_nicethread:

 

[anmracing]

If you notice on early 60's MoPars you will see a very different arrangement for the power feed through the bulkhead. It's basically a piece of flat bar with the wire screwed on with a ring lug. I have basically duplicated this installation on a couple of cars. Not the 10 min fix but it looks somewhat factory.

Hey Meep-Meep do you have any pix of how you did that? I'm going to try and rewire my ammeter BUT I want to try and and just have one wire from the power. Nothing else is going to be powered off of it.

 

[redlinegw]

Redline Gauge Works can do an amp to voltmeter conversion on just about any vehicle and you can keep the original ammeter face or have it printed to look like a factory volts scale. Give them a call at (661) 259-8891 for a quote. I would also do what waygun suggested and run a wire from the alternator to the starter relay, I did this on my Valiant and it is working great!

 

[70Fish]

I also remember reading about a kit in MCG a while back that was similar to the prev post on running a different wire off the alt. Think it was called "wiring harness preserver" or something to that effect, and basically, it bypassed the amp guage. Was also supposed to cure dim lights at idle. Found this thread also, but I think the outfit that sold this kits, is out of business?

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?topic=45439.0

 

[Patrick]

If you take the harness apart at the firewall, cean the contacts and put a dab of grease on the pins about ounce every two years, you'll never have a problem with it.

 

[anmracing]

Sent my ammeter to RTE three weeks ago to convert to voltmeter......

 

[Scatransit]

As long as your voltage drop across the connection at cavity "J" is .1 or.2 volts (hopefully less), you should be fine. Use a digital DVOM for this. Insert/backprobe the positive lead into cavity "J" from under the hood and the negative on the other side under the dash...you may need an assistant. I would make the measurement with the engine running and all electrical accesories on. The heat/damage issue at the bulkhead occurs when there is unwanted resistance at that connection due to corrosion or poor terminal contact. As already mentioned, a good clean contact, along with plenty of "bite" from the female terminal, and a good coating of dielectric grease, and you're good to go.

 

[anmracing]

Good info Scatransit! Thanks!

Wow, October 15th and still no gauge..... It looks like I'm out an ammeter and a fuel gauge.... I'm bummed, it had the matching numbers to all the guages..... Guess I'll have to chalk it up to a learning experience.....