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Battery charging problem help needed #175945
12/27/08 10:06 AM
12/27/08 10:06 AM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 657
Sophia, NC
6
67valiant340 Offline OP
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67valiant340  Offline OP
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Sophia, NC
I am having problems with my '67 Valiant's electrical system. I started it and the alternator gauge stayed on the negative side of Zero instead of going to the positive. I took my 4 year old battery to the auto parts store and they checked it on their machine and told me that it was no good. I bought a new battery and a new voltage regulator also. I cleaned my cables and installed the new battery and voltage regulator and it still discharges when running. If I turn on the headlights, it discharges even more. I had a new alternator on hand, so I installed it along with a new fan belt, but it didn't help at all. The engine turns over quickly and it fires up instantly and all of the lights, etc. all work fine. I checked the voltage at both the battery and the alternator when the engine is running with a tester and it says "low output" and my battery begins to lose voltage slowly but surely. Any ideas on what my problem is? What is the best way to bypass the factory ammeter gauge and to install a voltmeter? Thanks.

Re: Battery charging problem help needed [Re: 67valiant340] #175946
12/27/08 10:31 AM
12/27/08 10:31 AM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 657
Sophia, NC
6
67valiant340 Offline OP
super street
67valiant340  Offline OP
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Can the factory ammeter gauge go bad and cause the battery to discharge? Will the ammeter gauge still operate if it goes bad? Thanks again.

Re: Battery charging problem help needed [Re: 67valiant340] #175947
12/27/08 10:52 AM
12/27/08 10:52 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
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Upper Midwest
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MoparforLife Offline
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did you get the right alternator?? It should have only one field terminal (small spade terminal)for the regulator wire to go to. If it has 2 spade terminals on the back take a short jumper wire and hook to this terminal and then ground it to the alternator case or any other ground.

Re: Battery charging problem help needed [Re: 67valiant340] #175948
12/27/08 11:58 AM
12/27/08 11:58 AM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 36,040
Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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Your alt has (1) male field terminal? With a 4" jumper wire with alligator clips connect the large alt "batt" stud terminal to this small field terminal on the alt for (3) seconds ONLY with the eng at a fast idle & see if it charges. This(field) terminal must recieve switched 12V when the key is on & if not trace this green wire back to the ign switch to find the "open". Holler back


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Re: Battery charging problem help needed [Re: MoparforLife] #175949
12/27/08 11:59 AM
12/27/08 11:59 AM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 657
Sophia, NC
6
67valiant340 Offline OP
super street
67valiant340  Offline OP
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Thanks for the info. I forgot to mention that my Valiant was upgraded to electronic ignition and the dual field alternator many years ago. I replaced the old dual field alternator with another new dual field unit. Both have 2 field connections and the main battery connection on them and everything is wired correctly. Any other suggestions?

Re: Battery charging problem help needed [Re: 67valiant340] #175950
12/27/08 12:12 PM
12/27/08 12:12 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 36,040
Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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did you convert to a later "flat" voltage reg? if so jump the alt field terminal to ground that has the green lead on it again for (3) seconds only at a fast idle. Still no charge, jump 12V to the other field terminal with the blue lead & repeat the test for (3) seconds. You are jumping one male field terminal(green) to ground & the other(blue) to 12V at the same time.

Last edited by RapidRobert; 12/27/08 12:31 PM.

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Re: Battery charging problem help needed [Re: 67valiant340] #175951
12/27/08 12:28 PM
12/27/08 12:28 PM
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 14,889
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Quote:

Can the factory ammeter gauge go bad and cause the battery to discharge? Will the ammeter gauge still operate if it goes bad? Thanks again.




I supose that's possible, not likely though. What can happen is that the ammeter will open up and not allow the battery to charge. However, when that happens the ammeter sits at zero all the time and turning lights on/off does not cause the needle to move. In this case it moves so I'd rulle out the ammeter, unless everything else checks out, a remote possibility, but not a zero possibility, yet.

Your dual field terminal alternator needs two things to output. switched 12V on the blue wire and a return on the green. Single field terminals are different. They cycle the 12V to teh alternator to turn it on and off. The dual field setup more smoothly controls the alternator output.

So check to see what is on the blue wire with the key on, should be battery voltage are very close to it. If not then you need to trace out where you lost it. If the blue wire checks out then move to the green wire.

Fire up the car and read the4 voltage there, the lower the battery voltage the closer to zero volts you should see on the green wire. The higher the battery voltage you have the higher the voltage on the green line. You shouldn't see zero volts though. You can turn accesories on and off, headlights are best, and observe how the voltage changes on the green line. If that checks out and you still have no output the alternator is bad. If there is no volateg variances ont eh green line then it's a wiring/regulator issue.

Oh yeah, make sure the regulator has a good ground too.


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