I put a new ammeter gauge in my 72 SS Chevelle a few months ago. It worked fine, except now the needle points down. When the car is running, it appears to move slightly as though its measuring a charge, however, the needle is pointing down. Any thoughts?

Hmmmmmmmm.........well, I work on aircraft instruments and I have seen this sort of problem with them. It sounds like your needle is just 180 degrees out to me. You might be able to just turn the needle its self (if you can get to it without ruining the guage) back to the proper position. It sounds to me like you have a problem with the guage though. Since its relatively new, maybe you can convince the place you bought it from to give you a new one. I dont the principle of operation of your guage, but if I were to see this type of problem on an aircraft, I would suspect a bad rotor in the indicator. In other words, a bad guage. If you can get to it, try moving the needle first though. Hope this helps you out.

---Jerry----

I had exactly the same problem on my '70 SS convertible when I got it. I don't think that this had anything to do with it directly, but the car had sat up for 5 years prior to me getting it. After I replaced the hydraulic lines on the top and bled them by running the motor extensively, the situation temporarily cured itself. Then, after a few weeks, it was back pointing down. It was working, just pointed down. After I got the a/c working and using the highblower daily, it spun the needle around again. As of this writing, it's functioning properly. I don't know why.

My suggestion, based upon my bizzare experience, would be to simulate a heavy drag on the electrical system and see if it corrects itself.

The ammeter does the same thing on a 3-pod dash with tach that I just put in my 70 SS!!! But I have no clue as to what the problem is or how to fix it. Next time I do a big overhaul on my car, I'm just going to pull the dash and move the needle back to the up position. Yep, kinda strange to see that I'm not the only one with this bizarre problem.