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- Thread starter 69dc
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No idea what they have, couldn't look it up. I'd imagine it's the old points type, though - and they burn out eventually.
uwss
Well-Known Member
Glad you got it running!
69dc
Well-Known Member
Autozone limiter fixed it. Now I have an oil leak on the left valve cover. I don't think I'll ever be able to drive it. :angryfire:
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Question for the group. The underside of my hood is painted just as pretty as the rest of my car. Should I put an under-hood insulation pad on it or leave it as is?
Also I need two of the body plugs that go in the holes that the hood mounted turn signal wires pass thru.
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Question for the group. The underside of my hood is painted just as pretty as the rest of my car. Should I put an under-hood insulation pad on it or leave it as is?
Also I need two of the body plugs that go in the holes that the hood mounted turn signal wires pass thru.
69dc
Well-Known Member
The Autozone voltage limiter fixed the oil pressure gauge but not the fuel or temp. Fuel gauge starts to rise when the key is turned on, goes up to about an 1/8th then falls back down to empty. Took the sender wire off the tank and grounded it and the gauge doesn't move at all.
bigmanjbmopar
Newb with a view
Sending unit in the tank probably bad. Temp gauge might be bad sender as well
If the gauge is good it should peg when you ground the sending unit wire, providing the wire is not damaged between the gauge and sender. You can test this by grounding a test wire off the gauge at the sending unit terminal. If the gauge pegs, the original wire is bad. If it doesn't, the gauge is bad.
69dc
Well-Known Member
OK, the fuel gauge mystery continues. I pulled the fuel sender from the tank and bench tested it. On empty I get 94 ohms, on full I get 12.8 ohms and it increases and decreases steadily as I move the float arm. I connected the sending unit wire to the sender and ran a ground wire direct from the battery negative to the pipe nipple on the sender and got nothing from the gauge when I move the float arm. Is it possible to have a resistance reading like that and still not get any movement from the gauge?
bigmanjbmopar
Newb with a view
Assuming that you had the neg cable on the battery when you did that then I would say you need to pull your cluster out and check the circuit board and or the voltage limiter and or the connections at the pins and make sure the cluster is grounded to the frame real good.
bigmanjbmopar
Newb with a view
The key was on when you did this out of car test? I am trying to picture the sending unit on a bench with the wire from your gauge (wire at tank +5vdc) to the terminal on the unit and a ground wire on the battery neg, and when you did this the gauge did nothing but now you are saying it works before you took it out?, but didn't work after you installed the autozone limiter? Was the cluster in or out of the car when you were bench testing?
69dc
Well-Known Member
I did the bench test with the sender out of the car and unconnected to the car. I simply used the probes from an ohm meter to check resistance as the float arm moved thru its range. The greater the resistance the lower the reading on the gauge. In my case the resistance went from 95 ohm empty to 12.4 ohm full. I did this test just to see if the sending unit is working and it appears that it is.
bigmanjbmopar
Newb with a view
oK, I am getting a little confused as to where you are at now, You replaced the limiter and got the oil and temp working but not the fuel? We suspected the sending unit but after bench testing it the ohms reading are close enough to be considered working, anything from 10-99 ohms range is ok. So we know the sending unit is good, but you still have issues with the gauge?
The gauge gets 5vdc from the limiter through the circuit board on one side of it, the other side of the gauge is the wire going out to the sending unit, so the resistance is the difference in voltage increasing or decreasing as the sending unit float moves so if the gauge originally went 1/8 when key on then dropped out to 0 a second later and we know the sending is good then I would suspect the voltage from the limiter or the circuit board itself. If I remember right you said in the beginning the gauge came on then dropped then you replaced the limiter and nothing?
Have you inspected the circuit board for breaks or loose pins for the connector? Are you sure you have the cluster securely screwed to the dash frame? that is how the cluster gets its ground reference. Can you take some pics of your stuff?
The gauge gets 5vdc from the limiter through the circuit board on one side of it, the other side of the gauge is the wire going out to the sending unit, so the resistance is the difference in voltage increasing or decreasing as the sending unit float moves so if the gauge originally went 1/8 when key on then dropped out to 0 a second later and we know the sending is good then I would suspect the voltage from the limiter or the circuit board itself. If I remember right you said in the beginning the gauge came on then dropped then you replaced the limiter and nothing?
Have you inspected the circuit board for breaks or loose pins for the connector? Are you sure you have the cluster securely screwed to the dash frame? that is how the cluster gets its ground reference. Can you take some pics of your stuff?
69dc
Well-Known Member
I know it can get confusing trying to understand my description of technical stuff. So I'll start over with what I have done:
I had no reading on oil, temp or fuel gauges because there was no limiter plugged into the circuit board. When I installed it I got oil pressure readings, no temp at all and a fuel gauge that would go up a little then drop back to below E. So here is what I have done to try to test it out: With the key on I grounded the sender wire terminal ON the gauge, I got a full reading. That should tell me that I am getting 5 volts to the gauge and the gauge works. Then I went to the tank and unplugged the sender wire and touched it with a new ground wire run directly from the battery negative post. With the key ON and the wife watching the gauge I get a full reading. That should tell me that the wire from the tank to the gauge is good and the gauge is working. Next I pulled the sender out of the tank and performed the bench resistance test that I already described. Next I plugged the sender wire back into the sender unit and used my new ground wire attached to the sender unit at different places. With the key on and the wife watching the gauge I get nothing from the gauge. My current confusion is how can the sender show good resistance readings on the bench but when I connect it to the car it won't work. I just ordered a new sender unit to eliminate it as the problem.
I had no reading on oil, temp or fuel gauges because there was no limiter plugged into the circuit board. When I installed it I got oil pressure readings, no temp at all and a fuel gauge that would go up a little then drop back to below E. So here is what I have done to try to test it out: With the key on I grounded the sender wire terminal ON the gauge, I got a full reading. That should tell me that I am getting 5 volts to the gauge and the gauge works. Then I went to the tank and unplugged the sender wire and touched it with a new ground wire run directly from the battery negative post. With the key ON and the wife watching the gauge I get a full reading. That should tell me that the wire from the tank to the gauge is good and the gauge is working. Next I pulled the sender out of the tank and performed the bench resistance test that I already described. Next I plugged the sender wire back into the sender unit and used my new ground wire attached to the sender unit at different places. With the key on and the wife watching the gauge I get nothing from the gauge. My current confusion is how can the sender show good resistance readings on the bench but when I connect it to the car it won't work. I just ordered a new sender unit to eliminate it as the problem.
bigmanjbmopar
Newb with a view
Out of curiosity do you have a ground strap on? Clips from sending unit hose nipple to out going factory metal fuel line to pump which is grounded to the block. It's important that all pathways for the ground be in place and clean and tight. If just one ground point is loose or not connected it will effect the gauge that goes for the water temp as well. Are you 100% sure all grounding is in place and good? Cluster on dash frame, ground strap on sending unit, fuel line to pump, full pump to block etc?
69dc
Well-Known Member
I checked some of those this morning and found that there was one missing from the battery to the core support. I made one up for that and broke my cable clamp when I tightened the nut so now I have to get one of those. I'll update the story if it helps.
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