68 Charger wired wrong

[lincoln5o]

I'm about to pull my hair out on this one, bought my 68 about 6 months ago and finally had the time and parts to work on it. Until yesterday it wouldn't even turn over. It cranks and fires but will immediately shut off. I've replaced the entire ignition system. New distributor, blaster coil, ballast resistor, plugs and wires. Electrical timing is dialed in and mechanical timing is good. Carb is delivering good fuel spray into the barrels. Cylinder compression check is also good. But there's something on the firewall that looks like a starter solenoid that is wired to the positive side of the blaster coil. Whatever it is caused the wires connected to it to melt when ignition is left on. It looks like it was recently replaced and is probably the wrong part. I know it's not the starter relay because there's another one wired to the starter and the fusible link. Can anybody tell me what this is or is supposed to be? One of the wires to it was cut so somebody did something shady to get it to work. This is between the Ballast resistor and the windshield wiper motor. I want to find the right part but I don't know what it's supposed to be.

I've attached a pic of the part in question. Sorry if this has been asked before, I looked but I didn't find anything.

[BLK 68 R/T]

What should be there is a voltage regulator. What is there now looks like a starter relay.

[poppa]

Agreed. Looks like starter relay , should be by the steering column on the firewall. V reg in it's place. I don't have the ballast anymore. I think there's a blue and brown wire ,one supplies voltage while cranking (12 volts) the other drops it down when running. Others know more , will chime in

[BLK 68 R/T]

So the wires that originally are supposed to go the voltage regulator appear to be connected to the starter relay, which is mounted in its place. That is wrong and won't work. What alternator is installed currently and how many wires are connected to it?

[lincoln5o]

That is exactly what it was. Hooked up the hot wire to the blaster coil and got it to run. Ordered a Regulator and it should be here monday. No idea why someone wired a starter relay there.

[lincoln5o]

As for the alternator it's a summit racing reproduction alternator. Has an output wire and two connectors for field wires.

[BLK 68 R/T]

The 68/69 alternator should only have 1 field wire connection in addition to the main connection on the stud. It looks like one of the wires that would go to the connection on the voltage regulator has been cut? You can upgrade the wiring to run the dual field alternator which uses a 70 and up style voltage regulator or just ground one of the field terminals on the alternator, it does not matter which one, or get the correct alternator. Do you have a FSM with the wiring diagrams in it for reference to get your wiring straightened out? if not you can download them from mymopar.com

[Pete in NH]

Hi,

I second the idea that you should have a factory service manual if you don't already have one. The picture you posted definitely looks like a starter relay. I'm not so sure that it has been substituted for a voltage regulator but, you never know when people get "creative". A picture of the back of the alternator would be helpful and if there are existing wires on the alternator tracing them out may lead you to a voltage regulator that has been relocated from its original position. If there are wires on the alternator and they lead back to that relay you pictured that is wrong for sure.

[poppa]

If you could trace each wire to where it goes that would help a lot.

[John_Kunkel]

Engine compartment wiring.

[poppa]

Note , No black wires to ballast or reg.

[lincoln5o]

Problem is, all the wires are black because they painted over everything in the engine bay. I'm currently tracing everything with a multimeter right now. Will report back when I get this figured out. Appreciate all the help.

[Dino]

Since it' just a few under hood wires, I'd remove the lot and run new wires with new connectors. Cheap, easy, and you'll know it's done right.

[lincoln5o]

Happy to report that with the new regulator she fired up and ran like a champ and is charging properly. That wiring diagram is exactly what I needed. Doesn't hurt to have the right parts either.

Thanks for the help y'all.

[BLK 68 R/T]

Happy to hear everything is functioning fine. 

[ACUDANUT]

Happy to report that with the new regulator she fired up and ran like a champ and is charging properly. That wiring diagram is exactly what I needed. Doesn't hurt to have the right parts either.

Thanks for the help y'all.

Great news. 
That wiring diagram is Factory with points.  Yours has MSD and a 2 Wire Alternator.  How did you figure it all out. ?

[lincoln5o]

The 2 wire alternator, I just grounded one field wire and ran it like a 1 wire. My msd blaster came with a ballast resistor so I just installed it like normal. Not worried about getting a box or anything fancy till I get around to building a big block.

[Voss]

So you installed a correct voltage regulator? Guess whoever decided to install a starter relay there didn't have a clue on the electrical stuff...  Welcome by the way!