Ok, I am still VERY new with wires, but I am getting a little better. I am trying to wire up the ammeter gauge in the 3 pod cluster I just bought, and I have found 5 different sets of directions.....one set tells me to hook to the + terminal on the starter, one on the jumper by the batter, one tells me to hook up to a jumper on the selonoid, one tells me to hook up to the hot wire on the ignition switch......so you can see I am thouroughly confused.

Please, if someone can give me an idiots guide to hooking up this gauge it would be appreciated. I already have a 10 AWG wire running from the hot lead on the ignition switch, but I can pull that, and just splice the original wire back together.

I am already aware of the 2-4fuse slow burn fuse that needs to go inline for both leads, and I can do that.

To clarify for anyone that needs the info, I have what is stamped as a +, a - and the gauge is grounded (I believe) through the holder it is attached to.

oh, and incase it matters, its the truck in my signature, 1970 k20

My understanding is that one wire should connect to the terminal on your passenger fender, and the other wire should connect to the red wire on the back of your alternator.

If your alternator is charging your battery, then the voltage at the alternator will be higher than the voltage at your battery, which indicates there is current flowing from the alternator to the battery. The voltage difference will cause the ammeter needle to move to the right. If your alternator is not charging your battery, then the needle will move to the left.

there are two red wires, one that is all by itself, and one paired with a white wire, which one do i piggy back off of?

there are two red wires, one that is all by itself, and one paired with a white wire, which one do i piggy back off of?

I assume you are referring to the wires that are connected to your alternator. If so, it sounds like the wires on your alternator have been modified. I'm guessing that you want to tap into the one red wire that's by itself. On my alternator, the lone red wire connects to a threaded stud on the back of the alternator.

Here's a website that should help.
http://www.6066gmcguy.org/charging.htm

Have you considered ditching the amp guage and upgrading your pod with a voltage guage?

I'm with longhorn man on this one.... An amp gauge is a bit on the dangerous side... It runs all of the current your alt is puttin out and runs it into your cab.. You could do alot better by diching the ammeter and get a volt meter insted... its also a better way to see whats happening with your eletrical system...

Graham