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Dodge Dart/Plymouth Valiant
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Comments
Battery - get a battery hydrometer and a charger (never hurts for an
oldclassic car owner such as yourself to have a charger), unhook the cables, charge it up, test if there are any bad cells.Alternator - how do you know it's good?
Regulator - Is it separate, or built into the alternator (I don't remember)
Connections - make sure they're all clean and tight.
Edit- where is the Alt. gauge pointing? And what are any other symptoms?
If the ammeter does show a charge, but the battery keeps going dead, then you probably have a bad cell in the battery. You can confirm this by having the battery tested with a hydrometer and a load tester. Many auto parts stores will test batteries for free.
The battery also can go dead if an alternator diode is bad. There are 6 diodes in the alternator. If one of them goes bad, the alternator may pass a voltage output test, but it will not produce enough current to keep the battery charged at low engine speeds, or when headlights and other electrical accessories are in use. The only way to confirm this kind of problem is to test the alternator's current output.
A certain combination of bad diodes can also cause the battery to drain after the engine is shut off. If the battery has a charge in it, you can check for a battery drain by disconnecting the battery negative (ground) cable, and then touching it back to the post it was removed from. If there is a spark of any significant size, there is a drain. Of course, the lights must not be on, the doors and trunk must be closed, and the ignition key must be turned off. If you get a spark, disconnect the heavy cable at the alternator, and try the test again. If you now don't get a spark; you have bad alternator diodes.
There is also a fusible link in the positive battery cable. If that link goes open, the charging system will not work.
On my '68 and '69 Darts, it was mounted on the driver's side of the firewall, kinda high up. I think its main purpose is to cut down the voltage to the igntion coil so you don't fry the points, but it may cause other problems when it goes bad.
The owner could take the alternator off and Autozone will bench test it for you for free.
Or there's a way to by-pass the regulator but I'm not giving out electrical advice of this sort over the internet---I don't want somebody burning the garage down because my "green" wire has been changed to their "blue" wire.
A chilton's manual will tell you how to do the by-pass test (library book?)
This all needs to be cleared up before I can give you any further advice. I would suggest you go to an auto parts store and look at a new voltage regulator made for a 1965 Dart slant 6. After you see what the part looks like, look under the hood of your car at the ignition coil, which is located on the passenger side of the engine, near the front, behind the alternator. (There is a heavy wire leading from the top of the coil to the center of the distributor cap, surrounded by all the spark plug wires.) And see whether there really is a voltage regulator like the one you saw at the store, which is mounted on the coil.
If you have a digital camera, you can also take a picture of the coil and regulator, and include it in your next post.
Thank you.
I had forgot about those ballast resistors. They don't fail often but when they do, that's how they act.
Now, where to find one?
I dunno how interchangeable the parts are, but by '79, Chrysler was still using ballast resistors in their cars. At least, both my NYer and 5th Ave have this thing mounted on the firewall that's a dead ringer for one! Only difference is, it's on the passenger side, versus the driver's side on the Dart.
Turn key to ON position.
Take test light, ground one end, stick pointer onto PLUS side of ignition coil.
Do you get a light? If not, your ignition switch or wiring is bad or mixed up.
Trace it back from the PLUS side of the coil and checked every connection until you find voltage somewhere. You must have a break.
Good Job, Joe!
www.hemmings.com
It's all out there, somewhere, but you gotta dig on a car like yours.
1965 Dodge Dart (Schematic A)
1965 Dodge Dart (Schematic
I guess if you could swap in different gears, maybe 10" brakes off a V-8 Valiant/Dart, and perhaps install a transmission cooler and oil cooler, maybe the car would be a better tow vehicle? A 2.94:1 axle was standard in 1967, and optional in later years. That would probably be better, but still maybe not enough?
Note-while drilled and slotted rotors are good for looks, they actually aren't better for overall braking performance, and all that drilling and slotting actually can weaken the rotors. Disc brakes sure would be an improvement over the drums, though
So that's about the weight of a U-Haul closed trailer that's 5 X 8 foot and empty.
A couple years later, my '89 Gran Fury refused to start, and I used the Dart to tow it to the repair shop about 2 miles away. In this case, the Fury outweighed the Dart, but it still wasn't that noticeable. But then, it was mostly flat ground, which isn't going to stress out a car too much. Heck, when you think about it, a couple guys on foot could probably push a car to a decent speed, on level ground.
the laws of physics do allow a 5,000 lb truck to pull a 10,000 lb truck, but "pull" and "tow" are rather two different things.
Actually, he is neither pulling nor being towed by the train. What really happened is that the train's air brakes went out; which forced an emergency stop and the evacuation of all the passengers. The train is now located on a very shallow incline; and the man is holding it to prevent it from rolling away; until the Sagvagen arrives.
This is the undisclosed reason why KTM refuses to equip its motorcycles with air brakes.