[Rheinhold]

I purchased a new temperature gauge and ammeter gauge, previous post needed assistance, And I have the water temp gauge working now but the ammeter gauge is not working. I cannot for the life of me locate the solid yellow or solid red lines under the dash so I bypassed the wire harness and ran 14 gauge red wire to the solenoid where the factory red wire ran to but as for the "yellow" wire I do not know where it went to... I am running a 14 gauge "Black" wire for the yellow and well what do I hook this wire up to get the ammeter gauge to work? It does not move at all and well It’s brand new and well there are three small screws on the back of the alternator and I don’t want to try hooking it up to these because this 60 dollar gauge is well expensive and I don’t want to burn it out.
Is the 14 gauge wire to big???
Thanks for the assistance.

 

[Explorer]

What ammeter is it? It should have had good instructions for wiring it. Two of the terminals are probably for the backlighting. Give me a link to it and I can probably figure it out for you.

 

[Rheinhold]

The Ammeter is a new replacement for the factory one in the instrument panel. But now I have a new problem while re installing the instrument panel a wire that runs between the ignition switch and fuse box grounded and caught fire Needless to say I now need a new internment panel (after buying all new gages) and new well a whole new driver side . . .

I'm kinda mad at my stang at the moment... everything going good and then fire!!! . . .

 

[David Suesz]

Rule #1 - always wire with correct OEM type harness. The 66-73 AMP meter is actually an indicator, not a real ammeter. If you try to connect it as if it were a real ammeter, it will smoke check so quickly you won't even see it die. The reason these don't work is the wire connectors from the alternator to the meter must be absolutely clean. Use Brasso, Q-Tips, and an old toothbrush to clean them. Then put a thin coat of silicone grease on them and put them back together. It'll move quite noticeably, then.

 

[Ivy66GT]

David is correct about not hooking it up like a REAL ammeter or you can make some smoke. The wiring is really screwy but this thread of mine describes what is supposed to be happening. http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/classic-tech/233652-1966-mustang-ammeter-wiring.html

The '65 ammeters were another different kind where there are not even any electrical connections on the back. The wire carrying current to be measured is just looped through the back with no physical connections, just an electromagnetic connection.