Does anyone have a recommendation for an ammeter installation? I have read the archives with respect to "amp meter" installations and I have heeded the warnings, and I also have a voltmeter installed.

Mulletwagon says wisely, and this is great for a temporary view:

Remove every wire off the battery side terminal of the starter solenoid EXCEPT the battery cable. Put the ammeter between the
solenoid battery terminal and all the wires that were removed. Turn on the headlights (engine off) and observe whether the
gauge says "charge" or "discharge". If it says "charge", flip-flop the wires to the ammeter.


However, I just can't see installing 10ga wire all the way to the dash, nor can I see trying to figure out what type of shunt might work for the old ammeter I found. My '68 has an alternator idiot light, is it possible to just jumper this into the ammeter somehow?

thanks

Kaulike

 

If you have a voltmeter installed already I would stay with that one. The ammeters are neat but unless you have a shunt all the power goes thru the ammeter. Meaning you need fairly large wires all the way to the meter and back. Plus if the ammeter dies so does the truck.
To answer the question about jumping the idiot light to the ammeter... no it wont work you need a shunt.

Sparky

ps
If you hook up the ammeter without a shunt it will work...... but only once and it will read full scale

 

If you have a voltmeter installed already I would stay with that one. The ammeters are neat but unless you have a shunt all the power goes thru the ammeter. Meaning you need fairly large wires all the way to the meter and back. Plus if the ammeter dies so does the truck.

Excellent point. The idiot light probably tells me most of what I need to know anyway.

If you hook up the ammeter without a shunt it will work...... but only once and it will read full scale


Hahaha.. I have burned out my share of fuses in multimeters that way, don't want to do it with my only working dedicated 12V ammeter! Maybe I'll install it under the hood, I spend more time there than in the driver's seat anyway.

Thanks for the reply

Kaulike

 

I should clarify this a little.....hopefully I read my last post and it had some info missing. Too fast with the post button I guess
There are two types of ammeters, at least only two I know of. The first and oldest is the direct type...meaning the power goes thru it....big wires, ammeter dies so does truck. And the newer shunt type, which are actually millivolt meters....useless trivia , that measure the small voltage drop across the shunt which they require. If you wire these direct with no shunt they go POOF. But if they die the truck still runs, the ammeter is just dead.

Sparky

 

Yep, I followed. The one in the garage is a "real" ammeter, and I don't want one bad enough to go buy one with a shunt. I was just hoping I could tap the stream rather than put it inline, but you're right, I don't know what I was thinking. I may go with a shunt at some point, but right now I have other things to worry about!

Thanks for the response!

 

LOL THAT IS ALL GOOD I AM WIRIN ONE UP RIGHT NOW FOR MY 82 3/4 4WD AND I TRIED DOIN THAT WITH HOOKIN IT UP TO THE SOLINOID AND I ONLY HAVE THE WIRE ONE THE "A" SIDE (HOT SIDE) THAT GOES TO THE BATTERY. I DO NOT HAVE NEOTHER WIRES THAT I COULD STICK TOGETHER WITH MY GROUND WITH A BOLT LIKE THE INSTRUCTIONS SAY TO DO SO I WENT STRAIGHT TO BATTERY WITH THE GROUND TO THE NEG POST (DO NOT DO THIS I FRIED 4 FUES IN FUSE BOX AND ALSO A LOT OF NEW WIRE) BUT AM LEARIN ABOUT ELECTRIC SYSTEMS NOW I WONT DO THAT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I WIRED THE SAME GAUGE SETUP ON MY 83 3/4 2WD THAT I HAD A YR AGO AND I HAD THE EXTRA WIRES ON THE SOLINOID SO THAT ONE WORKED. NO I JSTU GOT TI FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT WITH THIS NEW TRUCK NE SUGGESTION???? PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO ME.

ALSO I HAD 3 WIRES (1 HOT 2 GROUNDS) THAT THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD STUFFED IN TO THE FRONT OF THE FUSE BOX WITH A FUSE IN PLACE TO HOLD IT AS THE OTHER PORT FOR THE FUSE WAS MISSING NOW THAT I HAVE TAKEN THOSE WIRES OUT THE RADIO AND BRAKE LIGHT WONT GO OFF WHEN THE KEY IS OFF ( THE BRAKE LIGHT IS ALWAYSO N BCAUSE I NEED NEW BRAKE POWER BOOSTER I HAD TO CHANGE IT ON THE 2WD ALSO) BUT NOW WHEN I SHUT THE KEY OFF THE TRUCK STAYS RUNNING!!!! WHAT DO I NEED TO DO????? I HAVE TO KIL IT WITH THE CLUTCH AND I DONT LIKE DOIN THAT

PLEASE EMAIL ME NE SUGGESTIONS

TY

RUFFIE

 

What do you mean by "ground"? Ground should never come into the picture with an ammeter. Never with a fuse box either. Grounds are little short pieces of wire that bolt from a device to the metal of the truck. Consider a ground a return after the current has done it's work. All other wiring should be considered "hot" in some form or fashion. I would suspect this ground thing is where all your blown fuses are coming from. An ammeter is hooked between hot wires to monitor the current flow in the wires themselves.

 

OK FRANKLIN THAT IS ALL UNDERSTANDABLE BUT IN THE INSTRUCTIONS AND ON THE BACK OF THE GAUGE IS A SIDE FOR POS + AND NEG- THESE ARE EITHER MARKED AS SUCH OR AS IN THE GAUGE I AM INSTALLIN NOW (HALLOWEEN INTRUPTED IT) IT IS MARKED POS+ AND ALT. I HAVE ONLY ONE WIRE GOING FROM THE A SIDE OR HOT SIDE OF THE SOLINOID AND THAT IS THE RED LEAD WIRE THAT GOES STRAIGHT TO THE BATTERY. IT WAS LIKE THAT WHEN I GOT THE TRUCK LAST WEEK. SO IN THIS CASE HOW WOULD I HOOK UP THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GAUGE???? ALSO THERE WERE 3 WIRES (1 HOT 2 NOT) THAT WERE JUST PUSHED INTO THE FRONT OF THE FUSE PANEL WHERE THE FUSES PUSH IN. WHEN I DISCONNECTED THESE WIRES I LOST RADIO WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE THE 1 HOT WIRE WAS FOR THE PERMENANT HOT TO THE RADIO NO BIG DEAL. BUT THE OTHER TWO SOMEHOW ARE TIED INTO THE IGNITION AS I CANNOT SHUT MY TURKC OFF NOW WITHOUT STALLING IT WITH THE CLUTCH. IR ELIZED THIS AFTER RUNNING THRU MY GARAGE HALDF WAY THRU!!!! LOL NO DAMAGE BUT STILL A LEARNING EXPERIENCE. I HAVE GOOD GROUNDS THROUGHT THE WHOLE TRUCK FROM THE BATTERY TO THE SOLIDNOID TO THE STARTER ECT. WHAT MIGHT IT B?????

RUFFIE

 

The plus and minus on the guage is a reference for needle movement only. When you hook the guage up, turn the lights and heater blower on, without starting the truck. The needle should move to the discharge side. If it moves to the charge side, you just switch the plus and minus wires on back of the guage and it will read the other way. I will try to post a diagram. With your fuse box problem, I will guess that the wires were originally stuffed in behind a switched hot source. When you put them back in, you must have hooked them to a constant hot source. This is the only explanation I have for the truck not turning off. I would try to put the wires back correctly, but see if you can use spade connectors to plug the wires in rather than the fuse holding them in.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/User_files/franklin2/3be0e9d60940652a.jpg

 

ok i was changin out all dash lights and got rid of them freakin stupid blue covers so that i can c the lights at night. got dash back together this morning and noticed that when door closed the truck will shut off with key but if the door is open i have to shut it for the truck to shut off!!!! would that b a bad ground in the door switch??? also the some light stays on when the truck is runnin and icant shut it off unoless i shut truck off which is no problem is just anoying at nite. somewhere i have a bad ground and i dont knwo wehre to start lookin for it


ruffie

 

You got me on that one. How in the world did the dome light get mixed up in the ignition circuit?

 

GOOD ??? FRANKLIN I DONT KNOW I JUST BOUGHT THE TRUCK LAST WEEK FOR $750 I COULD NOT PASS UP A WORKING 4WD COULD U???? TRIED THE DASH LIGHTS TONIGHT AND WERE LOT BRIGHTER AFTER I GOT RID OFF THE BLUE LIGHT COVERS BUT WHEN GF CAME HOME 10 MIN LATER WENT TO SHOW HER THE THE FRIGGIN LIGHTS WERE DIM LIKE THE COVERS WERE BACK ON!!!!! DONT KNOW IF BATT IS THAT LOW (IT IS OLD) THAT THEY NOT LIGHT UP. ALSO IT FLOODS OUT EVERY 15TH-20TH TIME I START IT. HAD MECHANIC FRIEND JUMP ME TODAY AND LOOK AT CARB AND HE ADJUSTED IT SO WILL LET U KNOW HOW THAT WENT. REPLUMBED THE AIR LINE IN GAS TANK AND WHEN I STUFFED IT BACK IN TRUCK I BROKE IT OFF SO NOW GOT BIGGER HOLE IN TOP OF TANK BUT IS AT LEAST IN TOP NOT BOTTOM LIKE THE LITTLE HOLE I UST PLUGGED. AM GONNA REPLUMB IT INTO SIDE TOP OF TANK TOMORROW AND FIXTHE OTHER HOLE I DRILLED. NETHING IS BETTER FOR AIR THEN WHAT IAHD TOOK ME 15 MIN TO PUT 1.5 GALS IN IT OTHER NITE THEN FIND OUT I HAD A FREAKIN HOLE!!! BUT SLOWLY BUT SURELY AM LEARNIN AND GETTIN IT F IXED AND READY TO GO IS SLOW BUT A MGETTING THERE. AM NOT BEST MECHAINC FOR SURE BUT IS LEARIN EXPERIENCE AS U HAVE SEEN!!!

NE OTHER SUGGESTIONS THAT I MIGHT DO TO MODIFY TRUCK OTHER THEN BIGGER MOTOR???? (THAT 300L6 IS GOOD MOTOR BUT NOT ENOUGH POWER FOR THIS WYOMING OFFROADING!!)

RUFFIE

 

ALSO TY FOR THE DIAGRAM DO U HAVE NE FOR THE WIRING DIAGRAM FOR THE FUSE BOX????? WHERE ARE U GETTING THESE?? THEN I CAN JSUT GO TO THAT SITE AND SAVE U THE TRBLE

RUFFIE

PS THANKS FRANKLIN FOR ALL THE HELP COULD NOT DO IT WITHOUT U

 

I made the diagram myself in paint(can't you tell!). I would go to a parts store and get the Haynes manual for Ford pickups and Bronco 1980 thru 1992. Haynes manuals are pretty crappy but this one is unusally good with good diagrams for the 80's trucks in the back.