Very hot ballester smoke was coming inside

[nasman]

Hello all!!

I need help with my problem, first I had a charging issue on my 1972 challenger rallye car, It has a 1970 440.

I replaced the battery, alternator, starter relay ( all these items were old and it was time)

now that the charging is working well I have another problem, the charging guage reads all the up past the C once i step on the gas and goes down just below the C once i let off. After running for 10 mins smoke starts to come in from the firewall area,,, and the ballester is burning hot, I know its suppose to get hot but that is not normal should I change it as it may seem to be original,,

 

[moparleo]

Check the bulk head connectors for burnt wires and the ignition wiring at the bottom of the steering column. You have something shorting or overloaded. I would keep the battery disconnected until you find the problem. You need help in person not by email.

 

[mopar440dad]

Definately sounds like the bulkhead connector. Unplug the wiring harness where it enters the bulkhead connector on the firewall and look for melted terminals, I bet the hot lead from the alternator was corroded and started to ground out and got hot causing the smoke. In my experience with ballast resistors either they work or they don't and they are supposed to get hot. Another way to check the wiring is to check for resistance between the hot alternator lead and the hot lead on the starter relay, it should be very minimal. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

New ballasts do get hot & I have seen smoke come from them , they also run hot but generally do not smoke after a couple of time when new .
Sounds like a bad regulator or a bad diode in the alt causing the charging to peg