Hy jdl, seeing you have the ammeter out, connect one side to the battery positive, connect the other side to a high beam head light one terminal, connect the other terminal of the headlight to the ground terminal, when you make the last connection the headlight should light, and the needle on the gauge should deflect to one side of center, either discharge or charge depending on the way it is hooked up. If the light doesn't light, or the needle doesn't move then the gauge has a problem, hope that helps.
