1970 Rallye Dash Temp Gauge

[dd70340]

All the gauges in 70 Dart 340 were working properly last year. The car sat for several months and now only the temperature gauge doesn't work. I grounded the sending unit plug using a test light and it flashed dimly about once every second. When I directly grounded the plug the temperature gauge needle moved less than a 1/16 of an inch. I tried this several times but the needle moved about the same distance each time. Is there anything I can try to get the gauge working short of taking the dash apart?

 

[Super-Cuda]

Yup!
This is a long shot but it happened to me. Check and see if the plastic gauge face has become detached from the cluster housing. This can happen if you push in too hard on a 50 year old cluster while cleaning the clear gauge cover. It may be interfering with the needle sweep if you detached it . The flashing is normal. Caused by the mechanical 5 Volt regulator that is part of the gas guage .Only other option to check properly is to take out the cluster. You can try wiggling the multipin round Connector that plugs into the circuit board but even if it works, its only a temporary fix.

BTW , I'm assuming this is a Rallye gauge cluster.

 

[dd70340]

Yes. it's a Rallye dash. I thought it might be a nonelectrical problem since it seems like something is preventing the needle from moving. Thanks, I'll check to see if the plastic gauge cover is pushed in. It's an A/C car so it's no fun taking the dash apart and I was hoping to avoid that.

 

[Super-Cuda]

Yes. it's a Rallye dash. I thought it might be a nonelectrical problem since it seems like something is preventing the needle from moving. Thanks, I'll check to see if the plastic gauge cover is pushed in. It's an A/C car so it's no fun taking the dash apart and I was hoping to avoid that.

Now the bad part, sorry!

If the lens is pushed in, you will probably have to remove the cluster to fix the problem anyway !