Dash is out - 66 Val

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Moparjake

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I recently picked up a 66 Valiant and have been driving it around for a couple months now. I purchased it not running…did the basic tune-up stuff (plugs, wires, ect). Now im delving into the electrical system. The first issue im attempting to fix is the fact that all my gauges are out. The dash lights work as does the speedo but my Alt, temp and oil gauges are out. At some point the previous owner swapped out the Alternator for what appears to be late model chevy. I don’t have access to a mutilmeter yet but I was wondering ifbased off the symptoms if there is somewhere you guys would recommend I start first. I have a wiring diagram and whatnot. I pulled the dash the other day and everything appeared to be hooked up correctly.

Thanks for the help guys.

-Jake
 
You're going to need at least a test light to diagnose it. You need to test for power at the fuel gauge to see if the voltage limiter is working. The attaching nuts for the gauges can come loose or get a bad connection even though they look good. Use a nut driver and work the nuts back and forth to gain a good connection. The ammeter is completely separate from the rest of the gauges so you'll have to test it alone. The factory ammeter is hot all the time on both posts so be carefull to disconnect the battery when you pull the cluster loose from the dash. If the gauges have power it's probably the sending units that are bad (the most common problem) You can test them by disconnecting the sending unit wire and jumping the wire to a good ground. Turn the ignition to the on position and see if the gauge(s) now work. If so, turn the ignition back off right away so the gauges don't peg at the max position as they can burn out if you let them stay there too long. If the gauges move, the senders are bad. If they still don't work, you have another wiring problem from the dash to the senders to chase down.
 
Well it looks like we got it chased back to the missing "instrument cluster voltage regulator". The part is completely missing from the back of the dash. It also looks as if there is a condensor back there that hooks into the voltage regulator. We got the highbeam light and the oil pressure indicator working though. I have the regulator ordered and once thats hooked up we'll see if everything else comes on.

Can anyone confirm that the condensor on the back of the dash hooks into the regulator?

The regulator is qeustion is AIRTEX / WELLS Part # 1V1000 over on rockauto.com

Thanks for the help!

-Jake
 
Yes, it slips into the 12v power supply slot. If you get a replacement voltage limiter, get the solid state one....not the original points type. You might want to check with RedFish on here. He builds those things.
 
Unfortunately the part already got ordered. Is there anyway to tell if its a points type regulator short of pulling it apart? Also, if it is the solid state version do i run it without the condenser hooked up?

Thank you for the help Mark

-Jake
 
You can test the voltage coming out of the limiter. If it's a steady 5v, you have a solid state one....if the voltage pulses up and down, you have a points type. Check with RedFish on the need for the condenser. I would say that you probably don't need it on the solid state unit. It's there for two reasons, it helps protect the points from arcing when they open and close and prevents that electrical static being heard on the radio. Since that is eliminated with the solid state unit, I wouldn't think it was needed unless some of the existing gauges produce static also.
 
That condenser does not "only" help with static from the voltage limiter, it helps bypass RF noise on the ignition buss, which helps keep ignition noise out of the radio

I would not necessarily re-use that old condenser (capacitor), though. You can buy generic radio static caps/ condensers from a decent parts stores. NAPA has them, part number something like RC-1, RC2, or similar.
 
I went ahead and hooked it up w/out the condenser and everything seems to work as it should. I dont notice any static over my radio, but i am running it through the 46 year old dash speaker. Thanks for all the help guys! Its really nice not to have to guess how much fuel i have left or wonder if the car is overheating or not.

-Jake
 
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