Ammeter gauge

[mr55s]

I have an ammeter in my car currently ( no pun intended) and it has worked very well… up until this past weekend. Connections are good both under the dash and in the engine compartment. All the other gauges are working as they should. What breaks in an ammeter gauge??? Is there something I should be looking at ? I am looking for a series V Alpine ammeter gauge for my Mkll.
Brian

 

[boss-tiger]

I am cautious of AMP gauges because of high load wiring to the gauge. I have extra AMP gauge I could send you to test it that would help. I am pondering how to change out my AMP gauge in my car and convert to volt gauge but have not stated to research effort required and goal also would be to remove the high load wiring behind the dash.

 

[Austin Healer]

It's pretty simple to remove an amp gauge and replace with a voltmeter. Remove the gauge and connect the two wires together and insulate well.... or figure out where the system was cut to integrate the ammeter. There are several brown wires connected to the starter solenoid. In an unmodified system these wires end at the alternator regulator or the generator regulator. it's common to see the ring terminals removed from the solenoid wires and then connected to a wire leading to the ammeter. The return lead from the ammeter connects to the solenoid. to completely remove the modifications. remove the ammeter return wire and refit ring terminals where they were removed from the wires that originally connected to the solenoid and refit to the solenoid.

Fitting a voltage gauge is super easy. Fit a green wire with a spade terminal to the fuse box and connect to the positive terminal on the volt gauge. Run the other side to a good ground. Wired this way the voltmeter will only function with the key on and will not drain the battery.

 

[boss-tiger]

appreciate info, may dig into that project this weekend

 

[Austin Healer]

you can also piggy back the feed for the voltmeter off of the voltage stabilizer. just make sure it's on the Dark green leads and not the light green side!

 

[mr55s]

Update: For those of you that are following….. I tried a different Ammeter gauge, with the same non working result. Sean had suggested to raise the rpm to 1500rpm and test the voltage at the Battery. In my case it was 12.43 volts at this rpm. Should be 13.5+ volts coming back to it. This lead to the weak link not being the ammeter at all, but the Voltage regulator. Thank you Sean! First thing in the morning is to get a new Voltage Regulator. If anyone else is feeling suspect, before you toss the Ammeter, check this first. No need to be afraid of the ammeter unless your connections are loose or wiring is chopped up hap hazardly, or throwing bare wires up to contact the ammeter bridging the connection gap under the dash….not likely.