This is kind of an old school question, my Jeep J10 gets power to the amp meter but after that is dead. That power after the amp meter basically runs everything. It's supplied by a fusible link that's fine.

We've messed around with the connections and it fired right up. Went back out the next day and it fired right up and died immediately and there was no power for anything again.

These amp meters are notoriously suspect after a couple of decades. There's two options, a bypass of the amp meter through some convoluted means that makes my brain bleed and some suggestions that taking both wires and bolting them to one post will bypass the meter. This seems too simple to be safe.

I'm not worried about voltage/amperage as the Holly Sniper shows that.

And for reading this, a start up: ( plus I like the sound)

I'm tired of how apple does things.

It is presumably wired inline, if so you can bypass it. It does not offer protection like a fuse, it just displays the output of the alternator or generator.

Makes sense to me that it would be that way, I'm just getting conflicting info online.

Thanks

One note on fusable links is that they can be partially melted but look ok. You'll do a continuity check and it appears fine but won't carry the amps. I say this as having dealt with a similar deal and the fusible link was the last thing checked ultimately because it was the hardest thing to get to.

IN any event I've also seen stuff that's intermittent be dependent on ambient temperature. Whatever bad connection you ultimately got will contract when its cold just enough to be a problem. Or even humidity in some case when stuff seems to work when it want's to.

There shouldn't be a problem putting both wires in one post of the ammeter.

Another potential trouble spot that would be intermittent is the bulkhead connector where everything goes through the firewall. I know on some of the old Dodge trucks that the terminals for the alternator charge wires can get high resistance due to heat, etc., over the years. I imagine that all vehicles with full current ammeters have similar potential issues.

What djx02 said... can you trace the problem to the back of your ammeter? Are you not getting continuity across the meter? If so, you can do the one post thing and bypass it.

However, if your problem is with your plug at the bulkhead, it seems to be a bit more of a tricky solution.

Found this, which I'm sure you've read. It involves drilling through the plug and socket at the bulkhead to run a dedicated hot line for branching out to the lights, ignition, etc, on that circuit. As well as some other splicing and wiring, but doesn't look all that complicated if you map it out per the diagram.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges2.shtml

Thanks immensely, y'all.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

---

One note on fusable links is that they can be partially melted but look ok. You'll do a continuity check and it appears fine but won't carry the amps. I say this as having dealt with a similar deal and the fusible link was the last thing checked ultimately because it was the hardest thing to get to.

---

I will back this up all day long. I dealt with a similar charging problem on my Land Cruiser that is configured similarly to the OP's Jeep and only after I bought every part of the charging system and replaced it new did I find that corrosion in my fusible link was the problem.

Is the ammeter inline or is it a remote induction measurement?

Inline, I guess.

Instead of hooking them up to one post I decided to bypass the meter altogether, and after buying a fire extinguisher this morning, I wired the two wires together.

She fired up and putted around the hood for a bit.

Thanks y'all.