Should the needle dip below the center mark of the gauge at idle? When I bring the rpm's up a little, the needle moves to at least the middle sometimes more. I am more used to having a volt gauge.

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69 valiant

Happens all the time on my 64 with the lights or fan on...........

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

If it is below the half way mark, does it mean that it is discharging? I am about to go on a long trip in the car and I do not want to have alternator issues.

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69 valiant

The only time the ammeter should be left of centre is when the engine is off (or idling slowly) and you've got a number of electrical loads turned on (lights, wipers or heater, etc.) At engine speeds above idle, the needle should always be at or to the right of centre. If that is not the case, then something's the matter with your charging system and/or battery.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Okay, I should be more specific. I have only noticed the needle going below when I have lights and/or the heater fan on and when I am at idle. If I going down the road, it stays in the middle or a little above. If this is normal then I am okay with it. I am mostly concerned that the charging system is operating just good enough over the short hall to keep the car alive. If that is the case, my battery will not live long and may leave me stranded somewhere in the future.

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69 valiant

Sounds to me like a typical Mopar charging system. The alternators don't put out much if any at idle. One thing you could do is run a seperat 10 guage wire from the alternator output stud to the starter relay stud. This will take some of the load off the ammeter, but render it inaccurate (it will always show a discharge). Doing this will help with the dim light issue and also allow the accesories to run better, ie not bog down under load.