Wiring problem, need help

Helping a buddy rewire his IH 450 pulling tractor. The wiring was messed up to begin with and somebody added a toggle switch and a master switch.

The master switch arms the electrical system off of the Pos. side of Bat.

The toggle is used to kill power to the dist. and is also the source for the push button starter switch voltage.

Power flows as follows:

Alt wire to Neg. on Ammeter, Pos. on Ammeter to master term#1. Master term.#2 to battery pos.

Master term.#1 to main Lug on starter solenoid ( suitable cable for starter load)

Master term.#1 to toggle term.#1. Toggle term.#2 wire to push button term.#1 also wire to Resistor.

Wire from Resistor to coil, wire from coil to Dist. (polarity assumed correct since tractor starts and runs flawlessly)

Wire from push button term.#2 to starter solenoid.

Aftermarket Automotive gauges. Volt meter, Oil pressure, Water temp.

1. Turm master switch on, Volt meter shows correct voltage accurately depicting current state of battery charge.

2. Problem is such that when you turn toggle to on position, volt meter goes to zero, and stays there.

3. Push start button tractor fires and runs flawlessly, but Volt meter stays pegged on zero.

What did I do wrong?
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I don't see where you have the Volt meter wired in.

The Volt meter should have two connections: pos to master term #1, and neg to ground.

If you meant Volt meter when you said Ammeter earlier, then you have it wired incorrectly.

Move the alt wire from the neg on the Voltmeter to master term #1, and connect the neg on the voltmeter to ground.

Thanks that helps alot.

You had better make sure of what you got. Ampmeter or voltmeter. Don't ground a terminal if it is an ampmeter as that will be a short. According to your circuit you have an ampmeter.

You should put some fuses in or make sure you park the thing outside

By the behavior he described, it's a Voltmeter.

If you have an ammeter then I would get rid of it
and install a volt meter. This allows you to put
your alternator wire uninterrupted to battery
circuit. The volt meter can then use switched
power at any point in the system and a suitable
ground. It will still tell you if you are charging
because when the alternator starts to charge the
entire system voltage should rise to about 13.5 to
14.6 volts. As for the coil polarity, it should be
the same as battery polarity. If you have neg.
ground, then the neg. terminal on the coil should
go to the distributor.

Sounds to me like he is passing current through it like an ampmeter.

(quoted from post at 10:40:01 01/17/13) Sounds to me like he is passing current through it like an ampmeter.

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help and replies. It is in fact a Volt meter. I did say ampmeter, in my post as that was what was in it., when I sketched out the wiring diagram listed above.

I remembered Voltmeter just as I was finished typing, and used it towards the end.

Sorry for the confusion. Volt meter needs grounding. Ampmeter is pass through voltage.

Again thanks for all the help.