Gauges not working and troubleshooting?!?!?!
 

Not sure if this will help anyone, but I finally took a bit of time today to take a look at my gauges.

Symptoms include a pegged temp gauge, High reading on oil pressure gauge and a fuel gauge with a mind of it's own. It would eventually peg.


I started out by doing a search on the site to see what had been done to get the gauge cluster out as I wanted to first check the lans on the back of the gauge cluster or pod for opens. Ends up all a person needs to do is take the two nuts off of the steering column under the dash to drop the wheel down enough to get the gauge cluster out without issues.


Of course this means you need to remove the panel first that is under the steering wheel. Don't remove the four bolts that hold the steering wheel column, but look futher up under the dash and remove just the two nuts:)

So, after I've done this, I removed all of the torks that hold the dash/cluster in place.

Once I got the cluster out, I first looked at the fuel gauge contacts so I could then trace the Lans coming from the gauge to the contacts that go to the connectors (two connectors that connect to the pod/cluster). I think if I remember correctly the Gas gauge had three contacts. A multi meter is required as you are looking for aero ohms.....or a beep in my case as the multi meter has this option. You want a short from your gauge contact to the connector contact. Enclosed is a pic, a crappy one, but it is trying to show were I found an open on a very thin lan from the gauge to the connector. at first it didn't show an open, but this is at the bottom of the plastic that holds the lan material and as I moved it, I got the open to occur. When you have this plastic and cluster out of the dash, you will notice there is an extra amount of this plastic with the lans on it at the bottom of the cluster and it must flex over time. Anyway, I fixed this intermittant open by soldering wire directly from the gas gauge to the connector contact. FIXED.......one down

Next, the temp gauge. My car is a 1983 crossfire car with the temp sensor under the driver side exhaust.First thing I did was remove this senoser and throw ohm it out. Then I threw it in some hot water and let it sit for a minute. Took it out and ohmed it again.....hmmmmm.....changed impedance....this is good. It has to be the gauge. I removed the front plexglass and popped he cluster back in the car. Fired the car up and the gauge stayed pegged. I forgot to tell you, my temp gauge was always pegged:) Anway, I then stuck my finger in there and unpegged the gauge. Now it stayed all the way down. As the car warmed up, the gauge worked as it should and tracked upwards until the t-stat opened....around 180 and stayed there. hmmm....turned the car off, refired it, pegged again and stuck? Ok, that is strange? So, just for the heck of it, I took out some plastic glue and found a neat little platic peg and glued a stop to the gauge! "L" It works great as the gauge now functions, but I haven't really fixed the problem. Not sure if the gauge is actually bad at this point, but at least I have a working temp gauge. I figure it is either a bad gauge, or possibly a bad ground of some sort which causes it to peg when I hit the ignition.

Last gauge is my oil gauge. It actually seems to be working, but just reads about 60 psi. This one I'll shotgun the sensor, which is right by the dizzy if I remember right, but the other possible reason it reads high is due to a non-factory build of a 350 block while maintaining a factory top end on the motor. Anyway, that is it for now!