Well, Jellobean, did you try this fix from your friend and did it work? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

I don't know if jellobean is around to answer you.

This thread is 16 Months old.

Thanks for going through the archives though.

Since the word *Ampmeter* is the wrong terminolgy, you can try searching Ammeter for other related threads.

Welcome to FTE JR !

You can search the word

 

Since this thread has already been pulled out of the swamp, I'd like to say you guys are confusing.

First of all, current and voltage are two different things. Ammeters measure current- not voltage.

Next- remember what happens when you place a fully charged battery on a battery charger? Of course not. Who puts a fully charged battery on a charger? When you have a discharged battery and place it on a charger, there is significant movement in the ammeter. As the battery regains its charge the needle drops, showing less current draw. This is what your truck ammeter is telling you! You have a fully charged battery.

When you have the key in the run position with the engine off and a good battery, there is very little current draw but the ammeter will still show charged. If you have the key in the run position with the engine off and a BAD battery, it will show discharged. Start the engine and the needle hardly moves when the battery is fully charged. If the battery loses its charge, the ammeter will move higher up the scale indicating a higher current draw.

What you guys are describing by increasing wire size and adding wires- all that is doing is adding more of a draw in current because of the added copper. This will increase movement of the guage, but why do you want that?

Finally- quit trying to get your ammeter to do what a voltmeter does. They are two different animals. Ammeters will not tell you the state of your charging system, just the state of your battery. You want to see if your alternator is charging, get a voltmeter.

This is how I've come to understand that which is THE AMMETER .

 

I think that my, as well as other's, goal is to obtain some observable reading from the gauge. The issue is that even when the battery is dead, and let's say jump started, there is no noticeable movement of the needle in the gauge. If adding additional current thru the gauge provides movement of the needle, the goal is met.

My inquiry is 2 fold...

1. Does adding the additional wires attain this objective?

2. What is the 'Ford ammeters for dummies' step by step process for making this modification?

 

Sure- but the mod is just cosmetic. And besides, all that does is alter what the ammeter is reading- it will no longer be accurate. Why don't you tie the float up on your fuel sender so it will always read full? It'll look better, I promise.

You're not fixing anything so in my mind I can't rationalize doing it. Why not just replace the ammeter with a voltmeter?

 

No doubt you have your beliefs, and I have mine. The issue at hand is to keep the vehicle funtional and as original as possible, i.e. no add-on aftermarket equipment.

Ok, well, with that said, I went down into the garage and did some tinkering around. I pulled the ammeter and ran a 14 gauge wire from the alternator positive lead to the ammeter and another 14 gauge wire to the postive lead of the battery. Turned the iginition to accessory and turned on the air conditioning, fan, turn signals and headlights. The needle on the ammeter moved approximately 2 needle widths to DISCHARGE; a clear improvement. This proved that the ammeter is, indeed, functional. And that the factory wiring did not provide enough current to affect sufficient needle movement in the ammeter.

Next, I allowed the battery to discharge to 9 volts. Thereafter, I started the engine and ran it at sufficient RPM to initate charging from the alternator. The ammeter needle moved about 2 needle widths from center towards CHARGE. Thereafter, the needle slowly moved towards center (as the battery built up its charge).

This is the proper functionality of the ammeter. Seems the only issue is that there was not enough current though the factory wired shunt to pull enough reference current for the ammeter to make a noticeable reading.

Yes, essentially, with a properly functioning alternator, regulator and battery, there probably will not be any real movement of the ammeter needle. And even under direct discharge, the needle will provide a reading only a small fraction of what its range is. But, now it makes, at least, some reading under the proper conditions.

Now, if I were to keep this wiring scheme this ammeter would be active at all times, even with the key at OFF. So, the question is whether to run this 'jumper shunt' from the ignition circuit or from the iginition circuit or directly from the alternator and battery.

Seems part of the issues may lie within the complex wiring, connectors, junctions, etc. that this circuit has to run though. The greater changes of corrosion or loose connections, the greater the resistence, and the less current to the ammeter. And then, running this add-on wiring to the meter in the dashboard. This will take a bit of time and effort, especially to keep everything working well.

Nonetheless, I have achieved my objective, which was to enable a discernable reading from the factory ammeter.

 

Good for you! Yes, Ford did not provide enough of a voltage drop across the shunt, and whatever voltage there is gets lost going through all the connections and the two fuse holders.

I've heard of someone raising the shunt resistance to raise the voltage drop, serves the same purpose.

The factory wiring has the ammeter "hot" all the time. I think there is no problem going that way.

Barry

 

Since the engineering on these old trucks hasn't changed since 1972, I tend to think any archived thread that is 73 or newer is still "current" so to speak especially on the subject of ammeter!
Joe

 

I must have the only *Perfectly Working* ammeter in the world.

Mine has at least a 1/2" sweep to the right when the engine is run after the battery had been drained.

 

Bragger!

Barry