Scratch one GM product

[The Goose]

Wow. That takes me back to 1985 - my front yard with the neighbor girl crying her eyes out as the 66 hardtop corvette we tried to buy from her dad the week before burnt to the ground. Burgundy 327 auto, anyways Rural Metro could take up to 1/2 an hour to show up back then. My older brother came outside to see what all the hubbub was about and only said “wow looks like you dodged a bullet” and went back inside. Close as I ever came to owning a corvette.

 

[65pacecar]

That’s sad, looks like it was a beautiful car.

 

[Joseph James]

This was an unfortunate accident.

Most household fire extinguishers are ABC , meaning they do extinguish electrical fires. I agree with Pete. Gotta stop that electron flow.

 

[Turboomni]

someone is attributing it to the factory ammeter

Do Oldsmobiles of that era have an Ammeter? I thought it was a idiot gen light.

 

[shooter65]

Of course I'm a Mopar guy as evident by my garages but, at heart I'm a car guy and that's tough to see.

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

my '69 Grand Prix just has the light

 

[Turboomni]

I have owned a 68 Olds F85 4 door and a 69 2 door. Very nice cars and would venture to say the quality of interior parts of my 69 Olds was better than my Fury. But I would still if I had a choice of either choose my Fury.

 

[shooter65]

I have owned a 68 Olds F85 4 door and a 69 2 door. Very nice cars and would venture to say the quality of interior parts of my 69 Olds was better than my Fury. But I would still if I had a choice of either choose my Fury.

Blasphemer!!!

 

[Mr Squirrel]

Makes me wonder if I should be disconnecting my ammeter.....

 

[livininharrow]

Makes me wonder if I should be disconnecting my ammeter.....

yes do it. install an aftermarket voltmeter. then you can sleep tonight. not just maybe one car burning to the ground but possibly your garage and house and maybe more cars to go along. stay safe.

 

[70_NPORT]

Exactly what I did. Still have the stock ammeter in place just disconnected....replaced by aftermarket voltmeter.

 

[Joseph James]

Mine is still in. I did clean it up and slather it in antioxidant paste.

 

[livininharrow]

Mine is still in. I did clean it up and slather it in antioxidant paste.

if that makes you feel safer than thats awesome. but wouldn't it have been easier and safer to just bypass it.

 

[mindshark13]

The more I look at that first pic I’m thinking he seen or smelled burning or smoke he stopped the car. Got out and opened the hood. In that short span of time it was already too late.

 

[Turboomni]

I think it is a good idea to bypass the Ammeter too. I also thought a real problem is when guys hook up stereos and amps and other stuff the wrong way and overload the system.
I don't think an Olds has an ammeter. I remember the oddity on my 66 Coronet but not my 68/69 Oldsmobiles.

 

[3175375]

Blasphemer!!!

I don’t know what you will call me. I have a Corvair and a Ranchero.

 

[Joseph James]

if that makes you feel safer than thats awesome. but wouldn't it have been easier and safer to just bypass it.

I didn’t do it to feel better. Electrical fires are caused oftentimes by resistance. Cleaning the terminals and using antioxidant compound means I have connections as good as when the car was built. I have not added load to the system.

I used to worked in a plant where we had Simpson analog ammeters to monitor heating circuits. Lots of heat in the cabinet and some were 50 years old. I never had one fail.

 

[Turboomni]

I have not bypassed my ammeter either.

 

[livininharrow]

.[/QUOTE]

I didn’t do it to feel better. Electrical fires are caused oftentimes by resistance. Cleaning the terminals and using antioxidant compound means I have connections as good as when the car was built. I have not added load to the system.

I used to worked in a plant where we had Simpson analog ammeters to monitor heating circuits. Lots of heat in the cabinet and some were 50 years old. I never had one fail.

I understand electrical circuits. what you are saying makes total sense but the next caretaker may not and overload it such as what turboomni said. such as some yahoo installing a 10,000 watt stereo and maybe powering it from the fuse panel. just saying. cheers and stay safe. nobody needs an ammeter in their car.

 

[Big_John]

I once heard that an ammeter kidnapped the Lindberg Baby....

In 1971 and possibly before, they changed the ammeter to a shunt style where most of the current isn't passed through the ammeter like it did in the earlier cars. It's pretty much the "Nacho" or "MAD" mod done for you. IMHO, a lot of the ammeter "OMG, your car is gonna burn" is bullshit anyway. What does happen is the terminals get loose and need to be tightened... BUT!! The huge problem that gets ignored and I think that most of these "ammeter fires" are due to the power connection under the steering column. That ***** of a connection is melted in just about every car I've seen. You see the big red wire going into the white connector and right there... in plain sight.. is a freaking huge burn mark. People just ignore it or try to clean it up and stick it back together instead of BYPASSING that MF'r. How many cars burnt to the water line when that one goes? And how many people on Facebook said "It was the dreaded ammeter"...

But, what do I know??