1974 Plymouth Duster Project
AND ON the instrument cluster.......
What are some of the "usual" troubles with them, another old thread:
Printed circuit pins repair
Generally:
If you use the original connector, inspect and solder/ repair the pins, as they are crimped to the board and can lose electrical connection
Instrument regulator/ limiter.......replace with a solid state one like RTE and solder jumpers across from the board traces to the connector fingers as shown in the thread above
Gauge studs lose connection. Consider replacing the "fake nuts" and loosen/ tighten them a few times to "scrub" the board traces clean
It would be wise to "jig up" the board and test the gauges for accuracy. You need test resistances for that:
If you have the fuel tank out, an extra sender, or an appropriate rheostat, you can set it with an ohmeter to the above resistances to test. The guage tester goes from the sender connection on the gauge to ground and you must feed the gauge power through a good gauge limiter/ regulator
Clean up and inspect the lamp sockets, buff clean the connection prongs on the sockets, bend as necessary, and clean the PC board, and replace bulbs. Some guys use LEDS but there are many brands and some do not play well with the dash dimmer control Also most LEDs are polarity sensitive. You will not blow them up, they just won't light if reversed
If you don't have the original instrument connector, put a "want" in the sale/ want ads and a member likely has one. You can do that another way, tho. It is fairly easy to solder pigtails to the board traces, ignore the original connector, and just use whatever you can scare up, like a Molex style connector
AND ON the instrument cluster.......
What are some of the "usual" troubles with them, another old thread:
Printed circuit pins repair
Generally:
If you use the original connector, inspect and solder/ repair the pins, as they are crimped to the board and can lose electrical connection
Instrument regulator/ limiter.......replace with a solid state one like RTE and solder jumpers across from the board traces to the connector fingers as shown in the thread above
Gauge studs lose connection. Consider replacing the "fake nuts" and loosen/ tighten them a few times to "scrub" the board traces clean
It would be wise to "jig up" the board and test the gauges for accuracy. You need test resistances for that:
If you have the fuel tank out, an extra sender, or an appropriate rheostat, you can set it with an ohmeter to the above resistances to test. The guage tester goes from the sender connection on the gauge to ground and you must feed the gauge power through a good gauge limiter/ regulator
Clean up and inspect the lamp sockets, buff clean the connection prongs on the sockets, bend as necessary, and clean the PC board, and replace bulbs. Some guys use LEDS but there are many brands and some do not play well with the dash dimmer control Also most LEDs are polarity sensitive. You will not blow them up, they just won't light if reversed
