ok i know nothing about wiring ...

A club member with a 73 Charger has a problem

The power wire in the bulk head that goes out to the ALT has blown the connector out of the motor harness and melted the bulk head a bit...

I pulled the wire out of the connector put a new connector on the wire and put it back in the motor harness plug .. tested it for power and started the car and the let it run for a bit and checked the wire and it was not hot ..

so we drove it a bit and the gauge showed it charging .. next thing we smell the hot melting wire.. pull it back to the house..

again the little metal prong had exploded and melted more of the bulk head connector..

SO HELP !!!!

can a faulty charging gauge do this ?
is something finding a ground ?

Any input ???????

The Alt and Voltage Reg are both new....

its your wiring. its 38 years old and has built up a lot of resistance. replace the entire wire from the alternator to the bulkhead, and from bulkhead to gauge, and from gauge back to bulkhead etc etc... better to change it than have a fire and lose a charger.

Try reading up with these how to links! Before ya try anything,It might help!
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/techa...ghts/index.html
http://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/electrical.html

There is a lot of science behind this topic. So far it's not entirely sure if it's a feature or a bug

Short but ugly method: Install a new wire, let's say 10 gauge, from alt to black stud of ameter. And drill a hole going through the bulkheat so that you install ONE WIRE without any plug on its way.

Than try and you will find out if you also have other problems in your wiring - means it will melt somewhere else

Had it too: See here if u like

I had the ignition feed wire do the same thing and it was due to the poor, original wire just breaking down at the bulkhead.
I cut the wire on both sides of the bulkhead and made a new wire and rerouted it thru the firewall grommet in front of the pedals.

Bypass the ammeter-they were notorious for shorting out

Had a 73 Charger that would boil the battery and melt wires. Bypass the ammeter and go with a volt meter. Look up easy details on MAD. Save yourself a burnt car. Google MAD or here.

I have discussed the cause and solution to this problem with the manufacturer of aftermarket Mopar harnesses.

According to them, the original design of the bulkhead Packard Series 56(?) male and female connectors is limited to around 38 amps. While this is fine for turn signal lamps and coolant sending units, it strains the design limits of the connectors--under optimal conditions including brand new wiring and 40 amp alternators --to carry the entire charging circuit's load through these connectors (not once but twice!) through the bulkhead connectors. Add 40 odd years worth of connector corrosion, higher current demands for aftermarket accessories, and higher output alternators, and the end result is the problem you and so many other Mopar enthusiasts have experienced.

If it makes you feel any better, I replaced ALL the wiring harnesses on my Mopar with brand new repops and STILL had the problem reoccur.

That's when I went to the manufacturer. Their solution was to add a parallel fusable link wire from the batt post to an up-gauged red wire going to the firewall, where they split that wire into two pairs of terminals at the firewall, then back to one up-gauged red wire to the battery side amp gauge post. (Same treatment for the black wire to the No. 1 splice and alternator, except that there is a single ring terminal on the alternator post.)

This design modification allows the bulkhead connectors to still be unplugged. (Unlike the alternative to pass an unbroken wire through the drilled out cavity.) The two extra cavities that are taken up by this modification require that two low-yield wires be ousted from each of the front light harness and engine harness plugs and transferred over to the unused (for cars without air conditioning) no. 3 and 4 cavities on the neutral safety switch/reverse light harness.

So far this solution has worked for me. And I defer to the manufacturer's expertise in arriving at this solution, which, incidentally is the standard fix that they employ when asked.

Interestingly, the manufacturer did not suggest that I bypass or eliminate the alternator gauge. Assuming the terminal studs are corrosion free and carefully cleaned, by themselves, these gauges were not the weakest link on the battery and alternator feed circuits--that claim goes to the under-engineered terminals at the bulkhead connector.

Bypass the bulkhead and the AMP gauge. My 71 RR had the wire burn at the bulkhead, so I cleaned the terminals and put dielectric grease on them and reinstalled. Good til one day driving smelled electric burning, thank God for the pair of lineman pliers to cut the battery cable and the fire exstinguisher. Amp gauge caught fire and burned the dash up. Kill the amp gauge and put in a more usefull volt meter under the dash.

Hi Guys

and thanks for your always fast and great info

I did the AMP gauge bypass and ran a heaver wire from the ALT back to the dash...

it doesnt look out of place and works great...

Thanks
David