To confess right from the start. Its in a jeep. But to redeem itself its an all ford rig. The 4V 289 C4 auto and all the wiring are out of a 68 fast back mustang. Wich appears to be the same as early bronco. Its a farm implement flat fender with no creature amenities at all. It only has enough electrical to make it run, charge the battery and turn on some lights.

My problem is the hot wire coming into the driver compartment to the amp guage. It gets hot like its shorted out, but I cant find any shorts. The wire comes from the voltage regulator under the hood. Then to the fuse box under the dash. Then to the ampmeter. The other wire out of the amp meter apears to go to the ignition switch. ?Like the power source to the ignition system? The heavy guage wire gets really hot all the way to the amp meter even when the vehicle is off. And it runs the battery dead in a matter of hours when its off. Does this sound like a shorted out ampmeter? I have had them go bad before but they always just quit working. Never getting hot or running the battery dead. I must also admit that electrical is my cryptonite. I can fab anything/build anything with basic hand tools. But these small electrical probs kill me. It doesnt blow the fuse. So does any one have any help for me? Dont let the fact that its a jeep bother you. The only thing left of the original jeep is the title. Everything else has been swapped out for something else. Even the body. (I should have went with an EB) Thanks in advance for any criticism advise or help.

Well...i think i see the quick fix...do you really need an ammeter?? i would unhook it and see if the damn thing quits giving ya fits...if so, there was the problem and you should fix it eventually, if not...look elsewhere.
sorry i cant help more.
later
Dan

Is the fuse box isolated (back shorted to the body). The heat can be transfered up and down the wire from where it is shorted. I does sound like the amp guage is shorted but I'm like you, they usually quit. The fuse should blow unless it is shorted behind the case.

I may be mistaken, but I believe Ford started using a shunt type ammeter in all their stuff around 1967. Based on that, I would bet you have a short in your harness or, maybe, you miswired something.

I may be mistaken, but I believe Ford started using a shunt type ammeter in all their stuff around 1967. Based on that, I would bet you have a short in your harness or, maybe, you miswired something.

I dont think its miswired. It worked fine for the last several years untill my trip to the rubicon. I have never had to disconect the battery and it could sit for months and start just fine.

School me please. What does "shunt" style mean? Its really hard to work on or see anything in this thing. But I have traced the wire the full length and it has no bare spots that I can find. Like I said it gets really hot ALL the way to the guage itself. Even the post it connects to will blister your finger. Then the wire that exits the guage goes to the fuse through the fuse then to the ignition block on the steering column. And the wire out of the guage is not hot at all. It looks like if I unhooked the guage it would stop the system from charging the battery.

Basically, a shunt is some kind of conductor of known resistance that develops a voltage drop that is proportional to the current flowing through it. The amp gauge is really a voltmeter with zero volts at center scale that measures that voltage.

Here's a link to a '68 F100 charging circuit diagram (http://www.fordification.com/images/schematics/wiring-diagram_68charging.jpg) that will give you a basic idea of how it works. It won't be exactly like yours but the principle is the same.

Basically, a shunt is some kind of conductor of known resistance that develops a voltage drop that is proportional to the current flowing through it. The amp gauge is really a voltmeter with zero volts at center scale that measures that voltage.

Here's a link to a '68 F100 charging circuit diagram (http://www.fordification.com/images/schematics/wiring-diagram_68charging.jpg) that will give you a basic idea of how it works. It won't be exactly like yours but the principle is the same.

Thanks that was helpfull. So what I did was unbolted the wires from the ampmeter then bolted them together. Then to check to see if it was charging i used my multi meter. It charges and the wire does not get hot. So for the record the guage itself is shorted out to the dash. It currently has no fuse before the guage wich I will fix shortly. When I put a new ampmeter in it. Thanks guys.

Actually, you don't even need to bolt the wires together . . . just make sure the ends are insulated from ground.

Actually, you don't even need to bolt the wires together . . . just make sure the ends are insulated from ground.

Maybe something is hooked up incorrectly. Because if they are not hooked up either through the guage or bolted together. It has no power source to the ignition switch. I was so happy to have it working and charging that I went and broke a hub.