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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1112
 
Location: Wild Wonderful | I have been driving my 59 Dodge for years, with no electrical problems. Then I decided to charge my cell phone on the
way to a car show. The car started smelling like something was burning, so I pulled over and actually saw the smoke
coming from the engine compartment. Naturally, I turned the car off and disconnected the cell phone. Everything seemed
to go back to normal. So I took it back home with no more problems. Now, every time I take it out, my Generator is over charging.
I have changed the Voltage Regulator, but it still does it. I also noticed a spark jumping from the coil wire that goes to the
distributor, to the center coil wire. Help.
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Expert
Posts: 1739
 
Location: Alaska | I assume (you didn't say) you are running a stock generator and regulator. With that said, it is hard to believe that charging a cell phone would mess up your charging system. Was it plugged into your cigarette lighter plugin with an adapter? A cellphone charger is a very low draw (amperage) devise and it might just be a coincidence that your system failed. Changing your regulator should have cured the problem. It may be that there is a short in your cig. socket and plugging something in caused it. The problem might be in your generator. If you have a factory service manual or similar old manual, it will give details on testing your gen. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 8443
 
Location: Perth Australia | How do you know its overcharging?
I am trying to read between the lines a bit here, in that you said it happened when you plugged
your phone in, my thoughts are that has created a short circuit, creating high current flow (not high voltage, overcharging)
The smoke may have been comming from the main power feed into the car, you need to look very closely at the wiring
under the hood first and see if there is any evidence of a burn (it will be a fat red wire) and also get under the dash and check under there
If it was burning due to the lighter shorting out, you might be able to see high temperature or arc marks inside the lighter, but you
also need to look closely at the wire to the lighter and see if its melted
I hope you do not find anything and my reading between the lines is wrong because if you find that the red wire (especially) has
started to melt, you really need to remove the wiring and fix it
As for the spark from the coil lead, easy, time for a set of leads, the insulation is breaking down, totally unrelated problem
 (Dash removal (48)s.JPG)
 (Wiring 12s.JPG)
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 Dash removal (48)s.JPG (129KB - 194 downloads)
Wiring 12s.JPG (94KB - 199 downloads)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1112
Location: Wild Wonderful | Thanks for the input.
Yes, I am using all stock parts. Yes, I had it plugged into the cigarette lighter.
I am only saying that it is over charging according to the gauge.
It has been a few weeks since the smoke, but I do believe the smoke was coming from the Generator.
Maybe it just needs some oil. What type of oil do you put in it?
I took my little flashlight and got up under the dash and also under the hood, but I found NO wires melted nor burnt.
I guess I will change out the Generator and see what that does.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 8443
Location: Perth Australia | Can I suggest you take it somewhere to get it tested?
It is very possible that its overcharging and unless you know how to set a regulator (it is in the service manual), its easy to kill stuff
Your car has an ammeter and if its showing high on the charge side of the meter, its pumping lots of amps into the battery or
something on the battery side of the ammeter is needing lots of power
Be careful, there is potential to do damage here and it worries me when I hear of/see smoke
Its easy to let the smoke out of electrics, but hard to put the smoke back in, and everyone knows that electric things run on
smoke, because if you let it out, it stops working 
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 782
Location: Edmonton, Alberta | Hi 59DeSotoDodge59:
I think you've had some excellent advice so far. If I may...
Three quick and easy things....
1. Just for the fun of it, have you tried disconnecting the power lead from your cigarette lighter and watching your ammeter? From the sounds of it, this probably won't prove much, but it's a fast easy test to see if you have issues with this circuit is as it's the one your were using when you disovered things were a little smokey. Plug it back it if nothing changes.
2. I'm, also concerned about your main power lead, the one that Mick was referring to in his first post. If you're comfortable tracing this wire....by all means have a look; however, if not I would have it tested as Mick mentioned.
3. Because you're electrical system is a little questionable, at this moment, I'd strongly recommend purchasing and using a battery cut-off. I'd recommend the purchase of one of these even if you're electrical system is in good shape. I use one all the time, and it's off all the time, unless I'm driving or showing the car. These devices can save you and your insurance company a great deal of heartache in the event of a major wiring short.
Good luck with your troubleshooting, whatever route you take. I hope it's nothing too big.
Edited by sconut1 2016-05-30 7:43 PM
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Over Charging, What did I do?
