Howdy,
I can't figure out what's going on and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Working on my 69 delta 88 conv. I have a new alternator, new voltage regulator and new battery.
When the car is running, the amp light stays on and goes off when the car isn't running.
Battery volts with a multimeter while running is 15 and 11.68 when the car is off. That tells me the battery is charging.
I checked the volts on the #2 wire at the voltage regulator while running, as suggested by the chassis manual, and the volts are 3.68. That indicates the voltage regulator is OK.
Batt, alt and reg are new, so it appears things are as they should be.
Currently, I don't drive it because I don't want to chance getting stuck with a dead battery somewhere. So, I disconnect the battery when not working on it so I don't know if there is a short somewhere.
The other part I'm not too smart about it the fuseblock. The tangs are rusted to the point they will probably crumble if I touch a fuse. I have a new block to put in, but am not sure if it relates to the amp light problem.

At least I've learned "hope is not a strategy"

Thanks,
Sean

 

You'd be amazed what bad/crusty wiring can do.

 

Since the car is a convertible is it possible the top has been down or damaged to cause that corrosion? Take a further look into that matter, your junction block may need some maintenance or replacement. This shouldn't affect your charging circuit though but may affect the indicator lamp. If the contacts on the junction block are bad your charging circuit could be good but the indicator lamp is getting a poor signal from the alternator. Also, check the primary wires from the battery to the starter/charger/ and the block. Look for corrosion under the insulation or poor terminal ends that are corroded. Like Randy said, corrosion is bad news for wiring.

 

You hit it on the nose. The previous owner must have left the top down quite a few times. There is a fair amount of rust on everything under the dash. The fuseblock is in awful shape. I tried to take out a fuse and the metal tangs literally disintegrated.

I have sanded terminal ends at the starter, ground to the engine block and battery cable at the alternator. It didn't cross my mind about the additional problems under the dash that could be posing the problem. Must be tunnel vision.

So you're saying one possibility is the bulb for the amp light may not be getting a good ground and is lighting up? Makes sense to me and will investigate with a reply.

Thanks for the help.

 

replaced the fuse block and it fixed the problem. Took the old one out and could not believe how rusty the back of the panel was. I'm surprised it even ran it was so bad. Anyone know of a company that refurbishes fuse blocks?

 

Excellent news!

Sorry I missed your reply and question from last year.

 

Hmmm...my amp light has been dimly lit for the past two years on my 68 Delta 88 convertible. I just ignored it. I have done most of the checking you've done except inspected the back of the fuse block. The fuse and fuse connectors all look in great shape though. I have an issue I posted in "electrical" dealing with a short in my system that was running through my e-brake cable. I say "was," not because its fixed, but because the heat snapped the cable. Still working on that one.

 

Haven't had the car long, but the amp light caused the battery to eventually drain and made me a bit anxious.

What really surprised me was that the back of the block was significantly worse than what I could see on the tangs from the front. Maybe it's a different type of metal on the back? It may be worth a look.

Hope you're able to track down your problem.

 

My light is on while driving and off when not running, like yours, but I have had that thing sit for 4 to 5 months without starting and it will start right up when I want it to--other than for the short problem I have recently had and still working on. The hunt continues.