Instrument cluster wiring

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edwinator13

edwinator13

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Volusia, FL
I have wired my instrument cluster, on my 74 Duster with 225 slant 6, twice already. Every time it seems everything is right and then a while later I start seeing smoke coming out of the dash. I removed the instrument cluster and the wires that are connected to the alternator gauge, by the left side, are burnt. The first time it fried my alt gauge and the circuit board. Is there a specific way to connect the wires to the alt gauge, red on right and black on left (option A)or red on left and black on right (option B)or this telling me my voltage limiter (circle) is bad and I need to replace it?

Instrument Cluster wiring A2.png


Instrument Cluster wiring B2.png


Alt limiter3.png
 
Do yourself and your ride a huge favor and bypass that amp gauge! Get a short number #8 screw and nut and put the two wires together tighten it up tight and tape em up good.
 
Go read the MAD article on the how and why and one way to fix / bypass the ammeter. Crackedback sells a simple bypass. You need to fuse/ breaker the thing

Catalog

The only thing reversing the wires does is to cause the meter to read backwards. That looks mighty crusty.
 
the typical reasons for that type of damage is:
  1. overly high current load in your system.
  2. bad connections in your system
all the above creates heat and fries cir boards etc.

what electronics have you added to your car?
 
Thanks all. Dana67Dart - I have added an after market radio - basic nothing big, just wanted better sound with Bluetooth and I also added keyless door entry and security system.

CFD244 - I'm going to "Bypass that bee-atch".
 
When I reassemble my car I plan to bypass ammeter for that reason... in fact, my car is a dash fire survivor already! And yes the fire started at the ammeter... previous owner was done with the car at that point, didn’t want to mess with wiring, so I bought it and am going thru it currently with new everything, including interior and wiring, and any electrical part on the car!
 
edwinator13 said:
Thanks all. Dana67Dart - I have added an after market radio - basic nothing big, just wanted better sound with Bluetooth and I also added keyless door entry and security system.
Click to expand...
Sounds like bad connections then. Time to get out the contact cleaner and some 0000 sand paper for the worst rusted ones.
 
The top photo is correct. If you look closely your cooked circuit board still shows the R where RED was marked. The original wire had red casing. The solder, heat shrink, red tape, and cooked board you have there shows this has been a problem before. I think at very minimum you need another amp gauge. Some of them are better built than others. The posts were swedged into a brass bar for a shunt. The resistance can be in that.
Meanwhile you could just clean those wire terminals and put them both together on just one of the gauge posts.
 
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After reading up on this, it makes sense to delete the charge circuit going into the dash through the bulkhead altogether. Keep the heavy fused feed for the in-dash demand, and send the charging circuit right to the battery. Combined with crackedback's headlight kit, won't be much current going through the bulkhead.
 
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