: Hi Gang. I am having electrical trouble with my
: 66 Dart /6 225. I just put in a new
: alternator, Mopar Performance electronic
: ignition kit, starter, starter relay,
: battery, etc. so I think we can rule out
: many of the parts. I unhooked the new CD
: player to rule that out as a potential
: source of the problem as well. My symptoms
: are as follows- car dies while driving due
: to zero power left in battery and will not
: start. Once I get a jump, I can drive it for
: a few feet then it dies again. Obviously the
: battery is not recharging properly. There
: are several areas that I would like to focus
: on. 1) On the alternator there are 2 field
: terminals- what do I with the second one
: since my previous alternator only had 1? 2)
: How can I tell if the alternator meter
: (ammeter?) on my dash is bad? The previous
: owner told me that it never worked
: correctly, though this is subject to debate
: since it shows a drain and that is what I
: have been experiencing. I also saw a
: previous post saying that the author traced
: his charging problem to the meter itself.
: Where can I get a replacement meter if this
: is the case? 3) I pulled out a snakes nest
: of wiring from under my dash where one of
: the previous owners had put in a cheap ass
: car alarm and stereo system. There were 3
: black modules about 0.75 x 1.5 inches
: spliced in to the wiring that had the look
: of relevant (original) parts due to the
: thick, old wiring attached to the leads.
: What are these things? I can take photos and
: post them if need be or provide more
: information from the modules themselves
: (It's cold and rainy tonight in Oregon and
: I'm just glad to have my car home). Other
: annoying electrical problems are that the
: dash lights stay on only itermittently (I
: assume this is the light switch itself) and
: a horn that makes the relay click but no
: honking noises. Anyway, any help would be
: appreciated. I'm new to all this. I am
: having a lot of fun fixing up the car. I
: just need to get it a little more reliable.
: Oh, and I am not adverse to buying a voltage
: meter and learning how to do some
: troubleshooting. Who makes a good all around
: meter for a reasonable price?

: Tom,
: The first thing you have to do is ground that
: second field terminal on the alternator.
: That alternator is a dual field alternator
: that would normally be used on 70 and newer
: cars. It is perfectly acceptable to use it
: on your car but the second field terminal
: must be grounded. It does not make any
: difference which one. There is usually an
: instruction sheet in the box with the
: alternators that tell you to do this if it's
: being used on 69 or older car.
:
: I think you will find this solves your problem.
:
: FYI, up to 69 one end of the field winding in
: the alternator was grounded through the
: alternator case and the voltage regulator
: switched voltage on and off to the other end
: of the field winding through the single
: terminal to control the alternator. On 70
: and up cars switched 12 volts was connected
: to one terminal and the electronic voltage
: regulator switched the other end to ground
: to control the alternator. The after market
: and rebuilders try to cover all applications
: with one part.
: Dave Clement