Melting wires behind the speedo cluster!

Today while I was driving, I smelled and then noticed smoke coming from behind the gauge cluster. I quickly pulled over n shut the van down cause I thought I was gonna catch on fire lol. I thought it may just be a bulb or fuse burnt out at first so I drove another mile to the auto zone. After removing the gauge cluster cover and pulling the gauge cluster away in the parking lot, hoping to just find a bad fuse or bulb, I saw something way worse. Both the black and red wires connected to the volt gauge were melted and fried.
I don’t know why this would’ve happened all of a sudden. I’ve been driving the van almost daily for a couple weeks now n never noticed anything before.
Does anybody know what could be causing this?
Also do these wires go directly to the alternator? Where can I find new o es after fixing the issue?
And lastly, how bad is it driving the van while this is happening? I need to get it to my friends shop ASAP but I’m thinking I shouldn’t run it like this.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thats what happens when ammeters get old,,,,,,the wires come loose and since that is the place where ALL the juice from the battery and alternator meet, it gets REAL hot there,,,,by connecting all the wires together you  bypass the ammeter,,,,,,which is useless anyway and put a voltmeter gauge somewhere to know exactly what your charging system is doing,,,,,

donivan65 wrote:Thats what happens when ammeters get old,,,,,,the wires come loose and since that is the place where ALL the juice from the battery and alternator meet, it gets REAL hot there,,,,by connecting all the wires together you  bypass the ammeter,,,,,,which is useless anyway and put a voltmeter gauge somewhere to know exactly what your charging system is doing,,,,,

Thanks for the info I’ll give that a try

The ammeter just tells you which way the current is flowing, not how much,,,,,if the voltage regulator points stick, the alternator could easily be sending be sending 20 volts throughout the system, cooking the battery,,,,,while you sit there and admire how nice the needle says its charging,,,,and that too leads to the demise of the ammeter,,,,,those screws on the back have special washers on them to keep the screws from touching the metal dash,,,,and its a close fit,,,,,so heat causes the damage, and you could have arc welding going on back there,,,,,,,you could probably put another new screw  post in the ammeter if it aint too badly damaged,,,,,but a nice voltmeter that reads around 14 volts shows that everything is working right,,,,,

Chrysler Amp gauges are all most worthless , even when new. And they are one of the best ways to burn you vehicle to the ground !
You can join the red and black wire together, and you can drive it, in a pinch . The best way to FIX this problem, is to replace the AMP gauge , with a volt meter. I always replace the Amp gauge !!!!
I used to work at a Chrysler dealership (mid 70's) . The number of burnt Amp gauges would scare you. Some time you would get lucky, and just replace the gauge. But a lot of times there would be a wiring/dash fire.

rustytoolss wrote:Chrysler Amp gauges are all most worthless , even when new. And they are one of the best ways to burn you vehicle to the ground !
You can join the red and black wire together, and you can drive it, in a pinch . The best way to FIX this problem, is to replace the AMP gauge , with a volt meter. I always replace the Amp gauge !!!!
I used to work at a Chrysler dealership (mid 70's) . The number of burnt Amp gauges would scare you. Some time you would get lucky, and just replace the gauge. But a lot of times there would be a wiring/dash fire.

Thanks for the info, I’m gonna put a volt meter this weekend

the factory ammeter is a pain in the butt but as long as the studs are tight they hardly fail,, without some help. I will venture to guess your van still has the point style voltage regulator below the cluster on the front panel. i'll bet the wires are burnt on it too and that would be the source of your problem. check it out and reply when you can....

jkr wrote:the factory ammeter is a pain in the butt  but as long as the studs are tight they hardly fail,, without some help. I will venture to guess your van still has the point style voltage regulator below the cluster on the front panel. i'll bet the wires are burnt on it too and that would be the source of your problem. check it out and reply when you can....

I forgot about the voltage reg. you should check that also !!

jkr wrote:the factory ammeter is a pain in the butt  but as long as the studs are tight they hardly fail,, without some help. I will venture to guess your van still has the point style voltage regulator below the cluster on the front panel. i'll bet the wires are burnt on it too and that would be the source of your problem. check it out and reply when you can....

Haven’t checked the wires by the regulator yet, but the regulator was upgraded to an electronic regulator a couple weeks ago. If it doesn’t rain all day Sunday I’m gonna get it all fixed up and I’ll let y’all know what happened. Thanks for all the input

The culprit of the regulator might also be bad grounding engine to body. As the regulator has a separate ground wire, this one might get overloaded, if grounding engine to body is bad (then the small wire "replaces" the big connection). Applies at least to the 69 model wiring.

I'm no expert on volt and amp meter installation but aren't amp meters connected in series while volt meters are connected in parallel?

Correct. That's the reason why all current has to go through the ammeter. And that might cause havoc.

Mikenomy,
What replacement voltage regulator did you use? How many amps does your upgraded alternator and VR handle? Is the new VR electronic? Is it adjustable?
Thanks, Richard