1965 dart dash voltage

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jerry1261

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dose a 65 dart use a dash regulator to cut back the voltage to the gauges my manual do not show one but I know some model did thanks jerry Great forum trying to help a friend
 
no I do believe that is with the gas gauge from what I have been told
 
Any electrical questions should be directed to slantsixdan. He is the guru of electrical stuff!
 
Any electrical questions should be directed to slantsixdan. He is the guru of electrical stuff!

Dan is not infallible (or always available) and there are others here that are very good. I believe 1 member restores clusters as a profession. I don't know about darts, but 65 valiant use an external gauge regulator clipped into the back of the cluster. Here is one on ebay and I don't see an external reg or even a place to attach it. Maybe a different set of eyes can see it, or maybe it isn't actually a 65 cluster. Hope it helps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-65-DOD...t=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr
 
Dan is not infallible (or always available) and there are others here that are very good. I believe 1 member restores clusters as a profession. I don't know about darts, but 65 valiant use an external gauge regulator clipped into the back of the cluster. Here is one on ebay and I don't see an external reg or even a place to attach it. Maybe a different set of eyes can see it, or maybe it isn't actually a 65 cluster. Hope it helps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-65-DOD...t=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr



If you look closely at the ebay photo the fuel gauge is closest to the column cutout, to the right in the photo. Notice above and between the two threaded studs/ nuts there is a trace which goes to the left to one of the studs of the temp gauge. This is the 5V pulsed output from the VR inside the fuel gauge, connecting over to feed the fuel gauge

The bottom photo is the best I could find. It's out of an early "A" van/ pickup, but it shows what to expect. It is mislabled, the terminal labeled 12 to gauge should really say "12 volts to limiter"

You can BUILD an external limiter onto your cluster. You need ground, you need to cut out the old parts in the fuel gauge (carefully) and you can use the 12 to the gauge unit to feed the new limiter, and the terminal on the temp gauge to feed the 5v from the limiter to the two gauges.
 

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I can fix it dor you. PM me if interested.
 
If you look closely at the ebay photo the fuel gauge is closest to the column cutout, to the right in the photo. Notice above and between the two threaded studs/ nuts there is a trace which goes to the left to one of the studs of the temp gauge. This is the 5V pulsed output from the VR inside the fuel gauge, connecting over to feed the fuel gauge

The bottom photo is the best I could find. It's out of an early "A" van/ pickup, but it shows what to expect. It is mislabled, the terminal labeled 12 to gauge should really say "12 volts to limiter"

You can BUILD an external limiter onto your cluster. You need ground, you need to cut out the old parts in the fuel gauge (carefully) and you can use the 12 to the gauge unit to feed the new limiter, and the terminal on the temp gauge to feed the 5v from the limiter to the two gauges.

I just want to pop in here and thank you :smile: Good job sir 67Dart273.
Taking the time to help many members here with you time and experience :cheers:
 
This is an old tread, but I ended up here because "this" thing have happened to me too. Or my car to be more precise.

Anyway, when I got the car it showed more than 3/4 full tank, the next morning it was like 1/4 and it has been between there every since but not one time has it been the same as the day before. So, something has been going on.
I have had the instrument cluster out 4 times now, and after the third time, I turned on the ign. key, and a few seconds later I heard a "pling or a plong" from inside the instruments somewhere. Well, not that I hear like a cat, but it could very well have come from inside the fuel gauge. The fuel gauge did not work at all anymore, and not the temp gauge either.

Today I took the instrument cluster out the fourth time to fix the light in the speedometer that has caused me so much grief. And, took the fuel gauge out to measure it. Nothing about it in the shop manual, but I managed to set up a test circuit as per the book. The hand in the gauge had permanently gone to bed, and obviously liked to stay there.
Went online to look for new ones, Moparmall has it for $300 + whatever it was. Not for my wallet.
Opened the contraption, and the wire from the "I" connector to the built in voltage regulator is burned off, and it is a drop of metal on the outer housing, and it is black soot there. So, I wonder if the gauge have had a weakness there for all it's life, just that my turning things up and down and wherever and handling it several times has caused it to connect to the housing, and that was it.

Now, if I now had a piece of new wire, and two small rivets, I might be able to fix it. Long time since I were in the "instrument repairing business", many many years. Different kind of instruments too.


Bill
 
test to prove you still have a working fuel gauge. Ohm meter shows 20 ohms post A to S. 3 volt battery here moves needle to about half scale. 6 volts get max scale. If good... you don't need to remove the OEM limiter, just isolate it. One or more layers of electric tape over that slither of metal on the back side of the gauge will isolate it from chassis ground ( so to be like common 2 post gauges ). Mount any regulator anywhere under the dash. E-body type regulator has a tang w/hole for mounting. Make sure its chassis grounded wherever you place it.
A wire that supplied 12 volts into this fuel gauge at switch on served no other purpose and should no longer go there either. Back it out of the panel harness connector, extend and route it to the new regulators 12 volt in. New regulators 5 volt out wire goes to 5 volt in side of either fuel or temp gauge. You can attach with ring terminal, toothed washer, and nut like those on your amp gauge. If you have the noise suppression cap' with 90 degree booted push on terminal that is no longer needed, that type terminal works for 5 volt wire also. Done
 
Thank you. Yes, I have been looking into that too, I mean the for example 7085 voltage regulator.
The A to S reading is about 20 Ohm, differs from 19.9 to 20.2. Then I was afraid maybe the temp gauge has a fault and overloaded the voltage limiter (to use proper Mopar language :) ). But, the resistance reading there is also 20.2 Ohm, so I guess that means it is fine too. It does have a 70.1 Ohm reading from the S terminal to the instrument housing (ground).

To the 5 volt solid state solution, is your experience that a for example 7085 gives about the same heat as the original voltage limiter inside the 1965 Dodge Dart fuel gauge also gives ? Because if they give around the same heat, I am extremely tempted to hide it inside the fuel gauge so it can't be seen, and it will also simplify mounting, and later troubleshooting, also if I for a peculiar reason should sell the car.



Bill

1965-Dodge-Dart-inside-the-fuel-gauge-burned.jpg
 
7805 linear regulator: common but not-super-wise way forward.
This (IVR-4) is a better idea; page on how to retrofit cars that have the limiter built into a gauge is here.
 
Nichrome winding in your gauges is approx' 13 inches of approx' 1.5 ohms per inch at 68 degrees. I've seen total resistance vary from 19.8 to 20.8
There is enough adjustment in the design to compensate for this variance.
If that mechanical limiter lost its ground it simply went off. In fact, lost contact at that slither of metal on the back of the gauge has been the only fault found in several cases.
The little 7805 regulator has no fault protection. If it looses its chassis ground it will pass full system voltage right through from in to out and fry these gauges in as little as 5 minutes. The factories 12 volt supply is can be 15 + volts after some battery drain.
You wouldn't properly heat sink the 7805 to a round surface inside or outside the can.
To put the limiter inside any gauge was quite foolish in the first place. And you consider following that? Just buy the RTE unit. Mount it where you can you access it if ever necessary.
The winding in your fuel gauge looks very very good for its age and believe me I've seen a damn bunch of them. Majority look more like the winding on your limiter. Or worse the Bi-metal beam bowed at room temperature too. That's the underlying reason RTE suggests we open these gauges. If the gauge is toast, their regulator alone will not fix it.
Don't do something foolish. You came here asking for guidance. So follow it. Happy moparing straight ahead.
 
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