Gauge questions - any quick fix tips?

[alextucker]

hey guys, before I go taking out the cluster do any of you very well informed fellas have tips to fixing tach, speedo and oil pressure?

Rev counter rises to 2500rpm but goes no further, tried tapping it etc but no joy (electronic ignition points installed in the distributor)

Speedo does not move at all, it did work before shipping from NYC

Oil pressure gauge has been bypassed for cheap aftermarket version, no idea why or if I should just switch back.

Any tips much appreciated

 

[Beekeeper]

What car are you working on?

 

[alextucker]

Sorry I was giving you that info telepathically It's a 67 383 4 speed charger.

 

[Beekeeper]

There is an upgraded tach board available from Real time engineering. for the speedo check both ends of the cable to be sure there's positive connection to the speedo
the cable is inside the jacket you will need to disconnect both ends and spin the inner cable to verify it spins on the opposite end then be sure the cable is fit into the trans and speedo correctly. for the oil pressure gauge just find the wire in the engine compartment and ground it to the block with a jumper then turn the key on and see if the gauge moves but dont leave the key on turn it off as soon as the gauge reaches full it can damage the gauge.

 

[alextucker]

Thank you very much for that Beekeeper, really helpful tips, do you think I really need a new board for my tachometer? It rises up to 2500 no problem but then just stays there, same in all 4 gears, I've never seen a tach do that before.

 

[Beekeeper]

Has the ignition been converted to electronic?

 

[alextucker]

Yes it has one of those internal distributer electronic rotar arms, sorry not sure what they are called but its not a full MSD type ignition system with a separate box etc

 

[Beekeeper]

I don't think your tach will operate correctly with electronic ignition since it was designed for points but I could be way off saying that. but the new tach boards are made to work with both

 

[gibber]

I think the tach might be binding, the bottom bearing gets full of junk after 50 plus years and will bind the needle movement. In addition the old tach board could be failing, most of them I get in for repair require replacement with the new RTE solid state tach board. The speedometer could be frozen; I've seen many of them I get in for repair stuck. May be repairable...I have good spares if not. The points type 5V voltage limiter inside the fuel gauge is a common problem. The points stick and deliver much higher voltage to the oil press, temp, and fuel gauges. This chars the insulated nichrome wire inside the thermal gauges and renders them inaccurate and then fail if the wire burns up enough. Feel free to contact me if you'd like. My contact info is on my website, www.thegaugedoc.com. I have repaired/restored over 230 of just 66/67 Charger instrument clusters (We own 3 ourselves).

Thanks,

Mark

 

[alextucker]

I tested the speedo cable and it's turning nicely and looks good at both ends but still not working, what do I check next?
I ordered the new board as you recommend for the tach, thanks for that.

 

[alextucker]

I don't think your tach will operate correctly with electronic ignition since it was designed for points but I could be way off saying that. but the new tach boards are made to work with both

Just to let you know the tach is working nicely now with the new board (fun job), calibration was not 100% as she idles at 5k but lovely to see it jump right up when I floor it.

 

[Beekeeper]

Just to let you know the tach is working nicely now with the new board (fun job), calibration was not 100% as she idles at 5k but lovely to see it jump right up when I floor it.

Did you get the board with the built in calibrater? Glad your tach is working good now!

 

[alextucker]

Did you get the board with the built in calibrater? Glad your tach is working good now!

Yep really nice set up you recommended, the calibration is just a bit tricky but more 'user error' than poor system