Brand new member to this forum, so please bear with me.

My 1973 Valiant (225) developed a starting problem about two weeks ago. Battery checked out OK, so figured it had to be the starter. Got a replacement, installed it, and still no go....just that annoying clicking. Brought the core back and decided to have the battery checked. Severely drained, and possibly gone for good, so they gave me a new one. While I was at it, I got a new ballast resistor.

Explained my problems to the counter guy, who suggested that I might want to check the alternator, which could have been the source of the blown battery.

Installed the ballast resistor, put the new battery in, and she started right up. The only problem I noticed was that the ammeter was constantly running in the discharge range.

Decided the prudent thing to do was get a new alternator. Installed that a few days later, and it was like new life was breathed into the car. Dome and dash lights were brighter than I can ever recall, and the whole car seemed to have new zip. But... (there's always a but, isn't there?)

With the new alternator installed, on the first start two strange things happened. The ammeter pegged to discharge, and the fuel gauge pegged to full, even though I only had half a tank. Within 30 seconds or so, both drifted back to the correct settings. Everything seemed OK.

This is my daily driver, but it doesn't get much exercise. Round trip to and from work is six miles total. So, as I said everything seemed fine. Until one morning when I went to start it and all I got was that nasty click, click clicking from the starter.

A guy at work thought he knew where I went astray. He said I had hooked the two FLD wires at the alternator on the wrong terminals. Try reversing them.

I did, and I guess he was right. The car seems to be behaving fine, except for one odd quirk.

At idle, the ammeter is at dead center. But when I accelerate, even just to 30-35 MPH, it pegs (or almost pegs) on the charge side. I have this horrible feeling that any day now on my way to or from work, I'm going to blow up the battery.

I went out this evening with a voltmeter to check a few things. With the engine off, voltage at the battery is 12.4, with the same reading at the BAT terminal of the alternator. With the engine on, and at idle, the voltage at the battery relay is 12.6. When I rev the engine slightly, the old ammeter goes almost all the way to charge, but my voltmeter reads between 16 and 18 volts at the battery relay.

So, did I screw up the ammeter when I crossed the wires on the alternator (not likely since it seems to work properly), did I blow the voltage regulator, or ????

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds to me like you could have a bad voltage regulator since the (new) battery is charging at an excessive rate. I think it really sounds like a bad voltage regulator, since you are reading up to 18V.

I hate suggesting just parts swapping as a method of troubleshooting, but voltage regulators are cheap enough, and it wouldn't hurt to have a spare anyway.

You said it's a 73 Valiant, so that has the solid state voltage regulator (right guys?).

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

Your issue is not solved. The field terminals and wires are not polarised; either wire can happily go on either terminal. I agree the voltage regulator is a good suggestion, also check the voltage regulator ground (body/sheetmetal grounds are unreliable at best). Also, parts guys are not a source of good quality repair information. Do you have the factory service manual for this car?

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

The fact that switching the field terminals "fixed" the problem makes me wonder if you might have a broken wire that is making better connection at a different angle. Might be worth checking out.

Thanks for the tips and advice.

Yes, I have the factory shop manual for the car (actually, the whole MoPar line for 1973), but it didn't really offer a lot of help. If I have all that nice dealer equipment to test the various electrical components it would be great, but...

This car has come up with a lot of pecicular electrical quirks over the years, and I think either a bad connector or a shorting wire might be the culprit.

So tonight it's off to get a replacement voltage regulator at the local Auto Zone.

Then I'm gonna start tracing wires, one at a time.

Wish me luck