couple guage electrical questions

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68 A

68 A

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been tyring to get all my guages to work in my dash.

first off the gas gauage does not work. I have a test light, and i have power going into the voltage regulator, and power coming out and going to the gas guage. I do not have any power coming out of the gas guage. Does this indicate that the guage is faulty, or is it possible that there is a broken wire between the gas guage and the sending unit?

Second, the dash lights and left turn signal are acting weird. The dash lights can be on, and working. Then they will turn off and the left turn signal light will turn on and stay constant. Wiggling the dash around does effect it and the dash lights and turn signal light will switch around. There does not appear to be any lose wires touching in the wiring harness where it connects to the circuit board.

third, some of the plastic pieces that hold the light bulbs and connect in the circuit board have a plastic clip broken off on one side so they do not connect tightly. Where can i find replacements?

thanks for the help!
 
Try to get some good clip's for your dash bulb's {don't let them touch the bord it will send a short or ground somewhere els}This could be all or part of the dash and turn sig problem.
I am not sure about the gas gauge It could be the float in the gas tank is froze up and not moving.Has this car been setting awile.

Someone will be with you soon I am sure.
 
i put a new gas tank and sending unit on the car in august of 2005, and hasn't really been driven (or had much gas in it) since september of 2005. the guage did not work previous to the new sending unit.

thanks
 
I am sure you have gas in it, and you have check for contanuity from tank to your guage.It could be your guage in your dash.
It consern's me about your bulb's being loose becaus when you turn your key on the power to the guages cold be toutching another curcit.
Make sure your dash is gronded good, If it need's a ground ,It can pull it throuw a bad light bulb, Get the lights in the dash away from the dash and see if you have a good ground if you do try to wiggle it and see if you lose your ground

Hope I have not confused you my spelling is getting better but still not perfect :coffee2:
 
do you have the ground strap that goes from the sending unit to the hard line? if you put a jumper wire in the send unit wire's rubber boot and ground the wire and then turn the key to on, the tank will read full if the gauge is good. the bulbs should ground to the copper parts of the dash where it mounts. if the copper parts are wasted you can solder jumpers over the bad parts. i believe i got replacement sockets from napa, carquest, or my local shop. does the regulator pulse on the output side? it should so it drops the voltage to 5 volts.
 
Although you had stated that you don't think anything is loose....

With the number of problems you have I would think most could be coming from your cluster or "connector to cluster" if all light are working correctly outside the vehivle. I would first pull the cluster itself and look over everything...ie changing all bulbs anyways once it's out, checking your main electrical connector for any loose pins. It dosn't take much around these older connectors to start acting up and having shorts.

It's also a good idea before starting to again check every parking and driving bulbs on all four corners. Ensure they all work correctly starting with the parking lights while trying your signals, then working your way up to the driving. If all works fine on the (outside) move to your cluster. This is only my suggestion....sometimes it better then the chase game when having multi shorts.
 
68A I told you it would not be long befor they got to ya. :salute:


This site and the member's are the best. :blob:
 
try grounding the wire that hooks to gas float. the gauge should quickly rise to full. if not then unhook that same wire at the gauge, hook a jumper to the teminal and ground that. if the gauge rises to full then the wire between the gauge and tank is bad. if the needle doesnt rise then the gauge is bad or no power is gettin to the gage.
if the gage rises when grounding the wire at the tank then the ground strap between the tank and frame is bad
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice, i will get some time to work on it this weekend, which might result in more questions. For now, my basement has 6 or 7 inches of water in it that needs a way out. Thanks again.
 
Got a fluke meter and tested the power on the board. There was 11.38 Volts going into the voltage limiter, and 11.38 volts going out of the voltage limiter to the fuel guage.

I was originally assuming that if the voltage limiter was bad, that there would not be any power going out. I am now wondering if it is bad since its not "limiting" the voltage, which may be the reason the fuel guage doesn't work?

i dont really know

Thanks
 
Hummm, yes that's not right :sad: ...blades on limiter should have 12V in, 5V out and a ground. If your limiter is toast you should be having problems with your temp as well. However just before you run out to find another one, ensure that the limiter itself is not grounding out on the board when pushed in. There "should" be a light paper insulator on the limiter around the blades and limiter face. If not...use the paper from a book of matches, cut and push over the blades and give it another try. Also, once back in, try to lightly wiggle the limiler with your finger while watching your guages to ensure "all" the blades are making a good connection.

Check out this link (instrument panel)

http://www.valiant.org/electrical.html and another that may help

http://www.moparfins.com/Repairs/Fuel_Gauge_Repair/Fuel_Gauge_Repair.htm

Keep us informed on your progress. :)
 
i'll try wiggling it and checking the voltage. The piece of paper is there, but the hole is bigger than the blade is, guess i'll also make a new one just to double check that thats not a problem.

as for the temp guage, there are aftermarket temp and oil pressure guages in it, so the gauge was not even hooked to the sending unit (i just put a tach in where the temp guage goes as well, however the fuel guage was not working prior to adding the tach).

Thanks again
 
i put a new piece of that paper in, and i still have the same amount of voltage going out of the limiter as is going in. Also tried wiggling the limiter, and didn't get any different results.

I also grounded the wire at the fuel tank, and the guage did not go to full. Grounded the gauge at the dash (jumper wire hooked to dash and the sending terminal of the guage) and still the guage did not move at all.

I am wondering now if the limiter is bad and sent too many volts to the guage and ruined it.

Should i get a new voltage limiter?


Thanks!
 
68 A said:
i put a new piece of that paper in, and i still have the same amount of voltage going out of the limiter as is going in. Also tried wiggling the limiter, and didn't get any different results.

I also grounded the wire at the fuel tank, and the guage did not go to full. Grounded the gauge at the dash (jumper wire hooked to dash and the sending terminal of the guage) and still the guage did not move at all.

I am wondering now if the limiter is bad and sent too many volts to the guage and ruined it.

Should i get a new voltage limiter?


Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would say it's now time. You maybe able to find one at a auto wrecker. Keep us informed when you try it out...
Wish you luck
 
ordered a new voltage regulator from the paddock. and of course they didnt tell me that it is a backordered item until the confirmation email. so it might be a while before i'm back on this topic.

Thanks
 
I have a limiter out of the dash cluster in my Demon. I would have to check to make sure that it is good but it hasn't been used in 20 years so I would imagine that it is ok. Let me know if you are interested.

[email protected]
 
i would be interested if it works and i can cancel my order with summit.
 
got my new voltage limiter and put it in last night. I tested and there are 11.4 V going in, and most of the time there was nothing coming out. A couple times it said 5V for a second, and once it said 10V. This is a brand New voltage limiter.

Another Question i had was where the condenser plugs in. I though plugged it back in the correct spot but am not certain and i dont know if it would mess anything up or not. But i plugged it into the same clip that supplies power to the voltage limiter.

Thanks
 
I had trouble with my 65 instruments - replaced the voltage limiter - same.
the circurit board mounting screws are the groud coniction for the limitor & I had bad grounds. I just loosened & retightened the board screws until I got a good ground for the limiter. Voltage limitoe has 12 volt in, ground & 5 volt out.
 
ok, i'll try getting good grounds on those then.
Thanks
 
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