69 Barracuda instrument Cluster issues

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Mike Sprecher

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Apr 24, 2022
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I have a 69 Barracuda. I Replaced the under dash harness do to the gauges. I have always had issues with temp, oil, and gas not working. Also Charging issues but that gauge reads. I believe that the gas gauge powers the the rest of the gauges but not sure (except ALT). I replaced the IVR. Im at a loss right now. I can't get the gauges to work by grounding them. Really need some advice. the back of the circuit board (is new) shows that the gas gauge is on its own circuit. How does it connect to the other 3? Thanks for any help
 
You need to post a good clear photo of the rear of the cluster. If you need to, overlap two photos. "Generally" the oil gauge (Ralley) equipped clusters have a 3 terminal fuel gauge. 1 terminal is switched 12V "ignition run" wire, 2...is output of the IVR unit inside, which jumpers over to the oil and temp gauges to feed them power, and 3....the last terminal goes to the fuel sender

How did you replace it? The IVR on those is built into the fuel gauge. To replace it, you much figure a way to make it "safe" and then mount an external one. They have a ground terminal which may not be obvious, and on that note, run a separate ground pigtail from a ground pooint on the cluster, and bolt that to the column mount/ dash frame. The lighting grounded trace goes to some of the PC board mounting screws

To check the gauges, jumper 12V power to the proper harness connector pin and of course ground. Rig up some test resistors, you can use the fuel sender if nothing else. All three gauges (oil, fuel, temp) use the same sender ranges. You should show about 5-6V or pulsation at the power terminal of all three gauges.

Since none seem to be working, check continuity of all three through the gauge terminals, check that you are actually getting power and ground, and then if that is OK, you have a bad or mis-wired IVR
 
Sorry I don't have a lot of pics of the back. there was a three post jumper with the single reducer on the fuel gauge. I took that off and put the the single wired IVR I believe its called on. I'm just trying to figure out how to power the rest of the gauges off the gas. Please forgive me on my terms. I suck at wiring. This is prior to installing new harness. Thanks

IMG-2958.jpg
 
Not sure about your fuel gauge but you hit on the best solution to use the external IVR. Sadly when the internal IVR goes bad it can take out all three gauges. What usually happens is 12 volts is sent into the gauges and burns all three out. Get your old IVR disabled and see if the gauges work.

We sent you the link that describes how to disable the internal IVR. It entails removing the dash to disassemble it and remove the fuel gauge. You remove the front face off the fuel gauge and bend the strip on the IVR away from the contact.

The face of the gauge is held on by two tabs that are twisted to hold it on. Needle nose pliers work best to straighten those and the face pulls off. The needle and mechanism in the gauge is very fragile. Any wrong move and the gauge won’t function the same.

Look at the photos in the link. It’s not a hard job to do and easier when you see what you are getting into.
 

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