Gen III and frying wires

[golferjohn]

I'm swapping my 340/727 for the 5.7/Tremec 5 speed and am more than a little concerned about toasting my factory harness.  I'd like to keep the dash and interior as stock as possible, but I've heard horror stories about the weakness of the wiring, particularly the ammeter.  I'll be using the later model alternator and computer and don't really want to mess around with the factory guage cluster.
Am I overly cautious or is this a valid concern?   If it is valid, are there any suggestions? 
Thank you in advance for any help on this matter, J

[dartracer]

loose the ammeter. You should bypass it any time you upgrade the charging system.

[CudaSRT8]

John,
Go with a volt meter instead of an amp meter...
O.J.

[MVRCorp]

Who had the post on here last week showing how to eliminate the A-meter? Or was that on www.forabodiesonly.com     ?

[golferjohn]

If I lose the Ammeter, then I'll have a dead needle in my dash and I don't want an aftermarket look w/replacing it w/a voltmeter.
Am I stuck getting a full later model rally dash and having ALL afetrmarket guages so there's some continuity?  I just prefer a clean factory look, that's all.
Sorry for the mini-rant...thank you all as always, J

[gocirino]

I'm swapping my 340/727 for the 5.7/Tremec 5 speed and am more than a little concerned about toasting my factory harness.  I'd like to keep the dash and interior as stock as possible, but I've heard horror stories about the weakness of the wiring, particularly the ammeter.  I'll be using the later model alternator and computer and don't really want to mess around with the factory guage cluster.
Am I overly cautious or is this a valid concern?   If it is valid, are there any suggestions? 
Thank you in advance for any help on this matter, J

Mopar Parts sells a kit to use your new alternator with the old harness so you don't cook anything... but lose the ammeter.

[CudaSRT8]

John,
To keep all your guages working and looking stock, you could send your guage or guage cluster (depending on how it's configured in your car) to (they're either called) Red Line Guages or Red Line Guage Works (don't remember which) and have them convert the amp guage to a volt guage and they can also reface the guage to say "volts" instead of amps.  It would just look totally stock to most people.   

This car stuff is not always simple and easy, but there's always a way as long as you're willing to throw some time and money at it 

[golferjohn]

Am there, doing that...and lots of it Couldn't think of a better way to get rid of some hard earned grip, though.  I may find a donor cluster and send it to them to see what kind of work they do and how it looks.  Any recommendation from you always seems to be the right direction, Thank you very much!

[79ramcharger]

This site explains why you need to bypass the ammeter. I made the mistake of upgrading my truck to the big 100 amp alt and end up setting my harness on fire.

http://madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

Steve

[MVRCorp]

Thanks Steve, that's the one I was talking about.
Jim

[bOb shingler]

couldn't you just bypass it but but still keep it hooked up. it'll still read a llittle but won't burn up by having only to pass a small amount of the juice through it.

[79ramcharger]

At the least I would bypass the ammeter it will sit in the middle just like it should as if the charging system was working properly. Then I would do something about the bulkhead connector. At the very least pull it apart verify the integrity of the spade connectors, clean, and reassemble.  There are a couple other articles on the web that talk about the problematic bulkhead connector. Rick E-booger has a couple online. Well worth reading. Then you can decide how you want to attack the problem.

Steve

[golferjohn]

All you guys ROCK!!

[redfastback]

you can send it out to redline gauges and they will convert it to a volt meter.  they can set it so 13 volts is center and it would sit just to the right of center just like the ammeter should.  the face will still look like a ammeter but the back is actually a voltmeter.

[CudaSRT8]

Hey John,
That   madelectric site explains the reasoning and illustrates more of what's necessary.   Hope I didn't mislead you, as there IS more to it than just changing the dash guage.  I just went off in my emphasis on how to keep it stock looking.   

John, can we talk?   Considering the bucks you already have in your car and the considerably more bucks you're now putting into it (KILLER DEAL by the way), now is the time to dump that 40 year old wiring throughout the car.   Now's the time to more easily blend the crate motor wire harness into the rest of the car's wiring system.   

I'm using Painless' generic version kit for my car, but I think their "muscle car series" for a Mopar would be a good choice for your situation.  You'd need to double check that the new harness is set up for volt guage instead of amp guage, but besides solving this situation, you'll also eliminate the bulkhead connector problem.   It really would be worth it to have it re-wired...   

[redfastback]

technically you can split the connections at the bulkhead into 2 each(4 connections total as compared to the stock 2) and then splice them back together on either side of the bulkhead connector(under dash and in engine bay).  the factory bulkhead connector handles only about 40 amps each.  if you split them, you can run more amps.  not the best solution, but if you want to keep the factory ammeter working.  i like to bypass it and just run an ammeter.

[CudaSRT8]

technically you can split the connections at the bulkhead into 2 each(4 connections total as compared to the stock 2) and then splice them back together on either side of the bulkhead connector(under dash and in engine bay).  the factory bulkhead connector handles only about 40 amps each.  if you split them, you can run more amps.  not the best solution, but if you want to keep the factory ammeter working.  i like to bypass it and just run an ammeter.

Wha...? 

[redfastback]

take the wire coming from the alternator.  before it goes IN through the bulkhead, slice it into two leads.  on the other side, before that same wire passes OUT through the bulkhead, splice it.  instead of that circuit using 1 cavity it now uses 2.  this way you can split the current up between 2 cavities and lowering the amps per connector.  remember, connectors, even crimped ones can create resistance.  all this knowledge was passed to me by a genius electrician i know.

then do the same for the wire from the starter relay in.  if you take your time, no one can see it unless they are looking closely and know a factory harness well.

for a new harness for my cuda, i myself am using headlight relays and bypassing the ammeter and having it converted to a voltmeter while keeping the face looking stock.  i also cut out the voltage regulator, ballast resistor, original alt wire.  i added a new 8 ga charging wire form the alt to the starter relay stud. my alternator will be internally regulated.  i will then connect the rest similar to the mad electric diagram.

[CudaSRT8]

redfastback,
Oh, I see what you mean.  Personally, if I were to go to that extent, I'd go even further and run two wires from the alt. into two cavities.  For that matter, if this were a driver, I'd run the wires straight through both sides of the bulkhead connector, direct to the destination.  I've never needed to do this, but I've seen it done many times.  The only time I've EVER had to disconnect at the bulkhead was when I was dismantling the car, so I just snipped the wire. 

My cuda will be wired very much like a new car, but not quite as complex.   I'll be blending a Painless kit together with some new OEM sub harnesses from the new Charger...   

[flyboy01]

Ammeter + new gen alternator = smoke, fires, and 

[redfastback]

actually the guys making my alternator even said that 60 amps is probably gonna do me just fine.  with a stock 45 or so, that is when i would maybe keep the ammeter in line with the fix i said and it might be ok for some for stock reasons, but doesnt seem good for what i am doing.

this guys explanation of it was pretty laid out, but for guys like us making a car how WE want it, bypassing i think is the best thing to do. 

[CudaSRT8]

red,
Got me wondering just how much power the stock, hemi Charger's alt. puts out.   Probably plenty enough.   I've got some fleet spec books at work I can look at and see if the police pkg alt. puts out even more... 

[gocirino]

red,
Got me wondering just how much power the stock, hemi Charger's alt. puts out.   Probably plenty enough.   I've got some fleet spec books at work I can look at and see if the police pkg alt. puts out even more... 

Hemi alternators put out are rated at 140amps or 160 amps depending on the car and options. You can do some serious welding with these puppies!

[MikeR]

You might call Redline and see if they can replace the Ammeter guts with a voltage gauge.  they might be able to give you the vintage look with a voltmeter.