need to test my amp meter

[califkid_66]

little electrical problem was driving car hesitated smelled burning saw yellowish light stoped on side lost all power
went to check noticed my alternator wire was disconnected grounded i put it back in its place nothing
then i took the alternator wire put it directly on positive of battery power came back drove it back home
now i think my problem is the amp meter it doesn’t let the power go through to the other side one side is bat the other side is alt
how do i test it is there a fuse inside or something do i need to change it or can i repair it if tha is the problem

[califkid_66]

tested with multimeter no resistance so my guess is it shorted out

[califkid_66]

ok opened it up found this the part that looks like a paper clip is melted missing a section i pushed them together now i have resistance

[BDA]

Another of the many things I am really not qualified to discuss but will anyway is ammeters, but I'll keep it short. These are my understandings. Maybe someone can correct me where I'm wrong and/or fill in the details of why I'm right.

Somewhere I heard/read that an ammeter is more appropriate for a car with a generator and a voltmeter is more appropriate for a car with an alternator. When my ammeter went out, I replaced it with a voltmeter. It's a simple retrofit: Connect all the wires that went to your ammeter together and keep them insolated. Attach a wire from a hot source (fused would be nice but I'm not sure it's necessary and I don't remember if I used a fused source. Closest to the battery is best but do what you can.). Ground as you would any other electrical device.

If you want to have an ammeter, there are plenty on fleabay. For that matter, there are lots of voltmeters on fleabay too.

You can get your ammeter repaired at Nisonger (http://nisonger.com). I wouldn't expect it to cost any less than a new one. They also sell new ones.

[califkid_66]

for now i would like to delete it but im no sure how i was thinking of keeping it in place but connecting both side together with a small aluminum strip between the two nut would give same results as connecting all the wires together i don’t mind if it doesn’t work

[califkid_66]

what bothers me the most is the parts that are supposed to prevent problems oil pressure gauges amp meter are the ones that are causing the breakdowns

[jbcollier]

Gauges show useful information but break down way more often than idiot lights.

Can’t really blame the gauge though.  The alt wire grounding would have been straight short to ground for the battery.  You’re lucky the gauge did go pop.  Hard to find new original gauges.  Might want to overhaul if you want the same appearance.

[Gary t]

When I made the new panel for my car  I Installed a small (maybe .5 by 1 inch)  self contained digital voltmeter (Amazon  digikey) now I have  original ammeter and a nice voltmeter,  best of both worlds.

[califkid_66]

i saw a couple of ampmeter for sale ill probably just buy one , the season is almost over im just gonna connect it so i can use it
i like to know how things work and taking the amp meter apart i found what was wrong so i’m gonna see if i can repair it myself see what can be used to fix this
and Jb you are right about my electrical problem the gauges didn’t cause the problem but rather prevented more damages
wanted to keep everything original but after this im gonna put a some fuses here and there prevent things like this from happening cheaper to change a fuse

[califkid_66]

ok did research im going to try to fix it just need solid coper wire and do it like second picture
should work

[jbcollier]

It's a very, very rare where the alt wire comes off.  I would just thoroughly go through all your connections and add a p-clip to hold the wire steady near the connection.

[califkid_66]

i sort of pulled on it trying to reach the oil pressure sensor but i did check all the ones in the engine bay

today i did some research and fixed my ammeter and it worked i turned the engine on it showed positive amps i stopped the engine went back to zero i turned on the headlights went negative amps
it is working real nice i took a few pictures if anyone as one that overheated  it is very easy to repair and doesn’t need mutch two connectors and a piece of electrical hard coper wire
the wire in the ammeter is supposed to be .0570 the wire i used .0645 but it works
the number of amps might be off because the wire is a bit bigger but im real happy with the end results
i crimped and soldered the wire to make sure i have good contact

[jbcollier]

Very cool.  Measure it against a known draw and see how close the reading is.

[rjbaren]

Wow, that is a great catch, write up, and repair.  Thanks and congratulations! 
I have a boat where there is battery power to the ammeter or voltmeter, (I'm not sure which I have), but no power coming out.  The boat wouldn't crank so I ran an inline fuse between my power in and power out externally behind the gauge to get the engine to crank.  The meter doesn't work but the boat runs.  This sheds a whole new light on the subject. I will be looking into the gauge over the winter.

[rjbaren]

The wire inside the gauge that Califkid repaired, is that called a shunt?