No Ammeter

[Sammy4358]

Does anyone know what to do with the ammeter wires on a new wiring harness when you use it for a GMC with no Ammeter. My truck only has a generator light socket, no Ammeter

[VetteVet]

Your truck is different because all the power has top go through the ammeter since it's a 59 which you failed to mention. I don't have a schematic for the older trucks with just the light but here is the one for the ammeter with the wires you have.






You might get more help in the 47 to 59 forum unless you have been there already. I will look for a wiring diagram for the dash you have.

[Sammy4358]

Yes it is a 59 with a foot starter and generator with a voltage regulator also. I am trying to keep this truck as stock as possible, (not so easy) with no suppliers having the correct GMC parts.
I was thinking I could get a ammeter that will fit in the gauge cluster and wire it as per your instructions . Any thoughts on if it will work?

[ray_mcavoy]

Yes, if you can find a suitable spot to add an ammeter to the instrument cluster, you can simply connect it to the 2 ammeter wires provided in the new harness. That should result in a connection like the diagram VetteVet posted.

Or, if you don't want to use an ammeter, you could splice the 2 wires together. If the wires are pre-terminated with ring terminals, a small machine screw with a nut & lock washer could be used to join them together. And no matter how you connect them, make sure the connection is well insulated (like with a couple layers of heat shrink tubing) to avoid a short circuit to ground. These wires are live all the time and prior to the mid 60's, the GM harnesses did not contain any fusible links or fuses to protect the main feed wire off the battery. Speaking of which, adding a fusible link (as shown in VetteVet's diagram) is a good idea if the new harness doesn't already have one.