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ammeter gauge clicking

Bama-man

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When I turn on my key before starting the engine my ammeter indicator keeps clicking towards the negative side also when I hit the turn signal on one side it also faintly flashes on the opposite side with the rhythm of the ammeter not sure what's going on. I have been reading about problems with the ammeter causing fires should I disable it ?
 

Challenger RTA

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When I turn on my key before starting the engine my ammeter indicator keeps clicking towards the negative side also when I hit the turn signal on one side it also faintly flashes on the opposite side with the rhythm of the ammeter not sure what's going on. I have been reading about problems with the ammeter causing fires should I disable it ?
By all means disconnect battery. until you read up on and trouble shoot. Read

Problem at shop.​

 

Challenger RTA

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There could be 1 problem or a number of problems. You have to good though a process of elimination. search this site for Problems at shop. this might not be your problem but it's a place to start. read and check what you can.
 

VillaTA

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I still haven’t diagnosed my issue from the thread mentioned above. Actually, my car had the exact same symptoms as yours last week when I drove it to get the new UCAs installed. Keep us posted on what you discover and I’ll do the same.
 

Challenger RTA

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I still haven’t diagnosed my issue from the thread mentioned above. Actually, my car had the exact same symptoms as yours last w
2 problems same but different. 1 I turn my key on to start, the discharge gauge goes all the way to the D side while the gauge is making a weird noise. Just for a second then it goes back to center of gauge. 2 I turn my key on to start, the discharge gauge goes all the way to the D side while the gauge is making a weird noise. Just for a second then it goes back to center of gauge.
 

VillaTA

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2 problems same but different. 1 I turn my key on to start, the discharge gauge goes all the way to the D side while the gauge is making a weird noise. Just for a second then it goes back to center of gauge. 2 I turn my key on to start, the discharge gauge goes all the way to the D side while the gauge is making a weird noise. Just for a second then it goes back to center of gauge.
I agree. But, My last post was meant to indicate that I had the same symptoms while driving. The ammeter was over to the C side for a while and the turn signal made the needle wiggle in rhythm with the clicker. When I drove it home a day later, nothing. Just hoping to find some commonality between our issues in order to assist in diagnosing.
 

Challenger RTA

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Process of elimination. Easy and simple things first. Bad battery and ground and connections can cause issues? Clean battery post + and -. clean battery cables + and - at chassis ground and starter relay. Do you have a good battery. known to be an issue! Pull all fuses,disconnect engine acc ,voltage regulator,ballast resistor,coil,ecu,tach and .Electric choke. alt wires field and charge wire.or what ever else is there Carb solenoid? This should eliminate any thing in relater to the engine. with the exception of charge wire,splice one,more on that later. Make sure every thing is turned off. turn ignition on. turned on is the problem still there?
 
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Challenger RTA

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I can't emphasize this enough. Just check it out. The battery and feed to components. So many time I have encountered co workers on construction jobs(as many as 1 or 2 to 500 to 700 on the job.) that have replaced everything on there car. but not the battery cables. They replaced them and the next day or weeks later I would see them.they said it fix it. The battery cable corroded inside about an inch or so from the ends. How do I know this? A lot of times I am put with the mechanic to help him. Had The Honor and Privilege to serve in USN as an electrician. Battery's very important. Dead in the water! Battery's start up emergency generator.Sorry a little about me.
 

Challenger RTA

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Problem still there? A: problem not there then it could be considered to be in the engine compartment. components or wiring and connections..! B: Or even the fussed link,wire,bulk head connection and other connections,feeding into fuse box and ignition switch. Under load the problem will arise. Keep in mind ground completes the circuit. bad ground or power connection, sometimes it will work or works erratic. Might be considered a phantom circuit,finding a way to complete the circuit. Approach this the least invasive way.
 
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72RoadRunnerGTX

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I still haven’t diagnosed my issue from the thread mentioned above. Actually, my car had the exact same symptoms as yours last week when I drove it to get the new UCAs installed. Keep us posted on what you discover and I’ll do the same.
Did you follow through with the diagnostic steps suggested on the other thread? Was the overload/short condition present in the accessory only position? Did you try connecting another ignition switch to the dash harness or the suggested Molex connector jumping to simulate another switch? Sounds like you eliminated anything relating to ignition 1 under the hood by disconnecting the engine harness.
 

VillaTA

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Did you follow through with the diagnostic steps suggested on the other thread? Was the overload/short condition present in the accessory only position? Did you try connecting another ignition switch to the dash harness or the suggested Molex connector jumping to simulate another switch? Sounds like you eliminated anything relating to ignition 1 under the hood by disconnecting the engine harness.
I have not been able to go any further since I don’t have another harness. Shirt only occurred when clicking into ignition 2 position. I don’t want to hijack the thread though.
 

Challenger RTA

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Process of elimination 2. on to the fuse box. I want to say first.What you are looking at is not what you are going to see on you fuse box. I ran a 2nd fuse-able link to fuse box. and other things. Now take note! back side of fuse box have more than one bus bar.for simplicity red battery always hot to battery.black hot when ignition turned on. and others become hot. With all fuses pulled out. having pulled horn relay,4 way flasher,turn signal flasher,key warning buzzer. if applicable map light delay, headlight delay,set belt warning.Turn ignition on. problem there? will go into depth later. If not replace one at a time until problem accrues. that will narrow it down to a circuit or circuits. As a substitute to a fuse. A test light can be used to find a circuit drawing a load. Now for others. plug in flashers and relays. Still have a problem! on to splice one and other connectors..When you get results and a chance. A little feedback so we know where you are.

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Challenger RTA

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Process of elimination 3. On to splice 1. Splice one is 99.9% never an issue. unless someone hacked it up. Looking at the diagrams upper right quadrant. Amp meter has 2 wires connected Red A1 12R and Black RA6 12 BK. Red A1 12R connect from the battery to fusible link to bulkhead connector 16 to amp meter. RA6 12 BK connects to splice 1. Splice 1 is approximately in the location where it shows. Splice 1 feeds Black RA6 12 BK from alt through connector 18, L1 feeds headlight power. Q3.12R feeds power to fuse box.that's hot all the time. J1-12R feeds power to steering column. Now that being said in short splice one is the load side of amp gauge. feeds headlight battery side of fuse box,charging circuit and power to steering column. Splice 1 also carries the load through the amp gauge when battery is being charged.This should give an understanding of splice 1.
 
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Challenger RTA

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I agree. But, My last post was meant to indicate that I had the same symptoms while driving. The ammeter was over to the C side for a while and the turn signal made the needle wiggle in rhythm with the clicker. When I drove it home a day later, nothing. Just hoping to find some commonality between our issues in order to assist in diagnosing.
When driving with nothing on other than ignition to run engine. It should show a little charging or almost dead center,with battery fully charged. the amp gauge is not that sensitive to small loads. It will change with the load.When using turn signals you can see a nominal change in the gauge. but not a complete sweep. turn signals are about 100 watts.I think the 1157 is 27 watts.the alt should pick up the difference.
 

VillaTA

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When driving with nothing on other than ignition to run engine. It should show a little charging or almost dead center,with battery fully charged. the amp gauge is not that sensitive to small loads. It will change with the load.When using turn signals you can see a nominal change in the gauge. but not a complete sweep. turn signals are about 100 watts.I think the 1157 is 27 watts.the alt should pick up the difference.
I had headlights and running lights on too.
 

Challenger RTA

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I had headlights and running lights on too.
So with headlight on it was in the charge area when driving.but when an other load applied you see a slight movement or drastic? (turn signals) I'm saying drastic , like clear into the discharge side. As 70chall440 said.I'm not discounting that yet.
perhaps failing or possibly its the regulator on the instrument cluster.
 
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Challenger RTA

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Process of elimination 4. Steering column plugs next. Observe three plugs. 1 that is a rectangle is for the ignition switch. 2 that is a rectangle with a tapered end is the turn signal plug. 3 the one one the very top of pic yellow single wire is for the key light. Unplug turn signal plug and key light plug.turn ignition on.problem gone that's were your problem is at. Bad turn signal switch could be dirt dust rust excessive grease, no grease shorting it out. broken or worn parts. Or bad shorted flasher.change both. If not plug turn signal switch and key light,back in.unplug ignition switch and plug in a known good one. as someone has mentioned. Or you will have to start jumping connections on the feed side of ignition switch. the pin connectors do come out. take note of wire colors on each side they are not the same.
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Challenger RTA

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Process of elimination 4.1. Steering column plugs.ignition switch connections. __1: S2-12Y start wire.__2: Q2-12 BK fuse box ACC feed and wiper motor feed..__3: J2A-12DBL with tracer,feeds slice 2, brake warning light, seat belt light and bulkhead connector 23.__4: J3-12BR bulkhead connector 22.__5 J1.12R power feed from splice one. __6:E2A-18 ORange,E2-18O feeds instrument cluster lights and turn signal flasher. (This is were a bad or going bad voltage limiter can come into play.) ___7: M16-20BK key in ignition buzzer__8: M16A 20BK head light reminder and left door switch.
 

VillaTA

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Just took it for a cruise to run an errand. Here is where the amp gauge was under high idle (cold engine). After running into Home Depot for Christmas lights (don’t get me started) the idle was back to low where it belongs and the meter was much closer to the center, but not dead center. When I give gas it goes closer to C. When the signal is on, the meter moves barely to toward the center.
 

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