man of la manche Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I did the cluster swap and the fuel gauge doesn't work. I replaced the original no tach cluster, and it worked just fine, which leads me to believe that the fuel gauge is either pooched in the the cluster with tach. Has anyone replaced their gauge with an aftermarket one? I really hate those idiot lights, but the lack of a working fuel gauge is disconcerting. I found this one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/Cyberdyne-Digital-Fu ... .m20.l1116 but I would rather get an analogue gauge to at least keep it similar like this one http://www.quadratec.com/products/95205_201.htm even better would be finding a way to get the stock one in the tach cluster working again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I think since you did the cluster swap already you might as well just get an OEM gauge. No headaches, and it'll look right. I had a Renix full cluster I just sold the speedo out of, but unfortunately the fuel gauge was already missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man of la manche Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 I think since you did the cluster swap already you might as well just get an OEM gauge. No headaches, and it'll look right. I had a Renix full cluster I just sold the speedo out of, but unfortunately the fuel gauge was already missing. the only oem gauges I have found so far are the big ones for the non tach cluster, if anyone knows where a small oem fuel gauge can be found then please let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Did you test the gauge in the cluster? The problem could be in the printed circuit, between the wiring connector and the two screws that connect the gauge to the printed circuit. Don't buy a new gauge (or a new, used gauge) until you know the gauge is the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64 Cheyenne Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 When I did my cluster swap, the connector to the printed circuit wasn't seating properly. My fix was to trim the female part of the plug receptacle so that the plug was able to seat correctly. Before I did this, the gauge would either peg to full, or would read empty. I knew there was fuel in the tank because I put about 5 gallons in it. See what I did in my post here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13953&start=0 part way down on the first page. :typing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man of la manche Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 I managed to swap the faceplates on my fuel gauges. I took the one with the big face plate out of the old cluster and got the small face plate from the tach cluster on it and it seems to be working right now, the needle actually moved to where it should be according to the old gauge (the needle on the tach cluster fuel gauge was pointing dead south, as opposed to being somewhere between empty and full). I'll drive it around for a couple of days and see if swapping the guts fixed my problem, I will probably need a new needle for the smaller gauge, the other one broke off and I ended up "altering" the big needle to fit the smaller face. At the very least if the low fuel warning light comes on then I'll be good to go for now, I'll just strap a steel jerry can in the back with "emergency" gas for when the light comes on if I'm not near a gas station. It's not perfect but I really hate looking at the cluster with the idiot lights. The printed circuits on the back of the cluster are in pretty good condition and I had no problem getting the connectors in, but as for testing the gauge... what should I be looking for with a multimeter? I have never done anything like that before, I have only used it to test the battery to see if the alternator is charging and as a tester to see if power is being sent through wiring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Your big gauge had a warning light? I've never seen one like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man of la manche Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 Your big gauge had a warning light? I've never seen one like that. the big gauge didn't have a warning light, I just took the "guts" from it and attached it the the little gauge face, the warning light is on a separate board and uses two different/separate circuits from the fuel gauge, the small gauge has 5 screws (2 for the fuel light) and the big gauge only has 3 screws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 as for testing the gauge... what should I be looking for with a multimeter? I have never done anything like that before, I have only used it to test the battery to see if the alternator is charging and as a tester to see if power is being sent through wiring There's not much you can test, and you don't really need a multimeter to do it. This is for an '88, correct? The resistance range for the sender is 0 to 88 ohms. 88 is for full, 0 is for empty. To test the gauge, unplug the connector at the tank. That leaves an open circuit to the sender. The gauge should peg to the right. Then take the chassis side of the connector and jumper the smaller colored wire to the black. That closes the fuel gauge circuit with zero resistance. The needle should swing to empty. If the needle doesn't respond when you do this, then either the gauge is bad or there's a wiring problem. Since your other gauge works, it's not a wiring problem. There are three contacts on the gauge -- it operates by comparing two paths to ground. I guess you could use a multimeter to verify that both paths have continuity, but I've never done that, it isn't described as a test in the FSM, and I don't know exactly what you'd be looking for -- other than verifying continuity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man of la manche Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 as for testing the gauge... what should I be looking for with a multimeter? I have never done anything like that before, I have only used it to test the battery to see if the alternator is charging and as a tester to see if power is being sent through wiring There's not much you can test, and you don't really need a multimeter to do it. This is for an '88, correct? The resistance range for the sender is 0 to 88 ohms. 88 is for full, 0 is for empty. To test the gauge, unplug the connector at the tank. That leaves an open circuit to the sender. The gauge should peg to the right. Then take the chassis side of the connector and jumper the smaller colored wire to the black. That closes the fuel gauge circuit with zero resistance. The needle should swing to empty. If the needle doesn't respond when you do this, then either the gauge is bad or there's a wiring problem. Since your other gauge works, it's not a wiring problem. There are three contacts on the gauge -- it operates by comparing two paths to ground. I guess you could use a multimeter to verify that both paths have continuity, but I've never done that, it isn't described as a test in the FSM, and I don't know exactly what you'd be looking for -- other than verifying continuity. you guys are good, I guess I should get that fsm which floating around here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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