Hello all, I got a '55 Dodge p/u and the fuel and temp gauges are non op. They worked until I rewired the truck, grandpa converted it to 12 years ago and all the accessories and 6v appliances are run off a voltage reducer. The prob is that the gauges pin to full (fuel) and hot(temp) when power is applied. There was this little black thing on the back that crumbled and unwound when I took it off. Any help and input on a fix would be helpful. Thanks
I did a bit of research and I think that the little black thing was a voltage reducer of some sort. I don't think I'll be finding another one like the original, anyone know of a subs***ute of some sort? Or what voltage the gauges are supposed to run at?
Actually just bought a modern replacement voltage regulator on that E(vil)-bay. Didnt cost many bucks. Do a search there and send me a pm if you dont find it and I will help you!
I spoke to the proprietor of Dodge City Trucks and he confused the **** out of me and is telling me I don't need a voltage regulator. Since this things been around the block a few times does anyone have a clue how to wire these guages up? My notes and memories from four years ago aren't very detailed. Liars, I found a read the auction but I don't like the idea of fooling with the internals of the gauge unless I have to.
Hmmm. I dont really understand what you mean by "the internals"..please explain. As far as I learned this type of regulators is clearly visible on the back of the instruments..and shouldnt be hard to replace. Good luck-never give up!!
Lair, I wrote that after reading the auction and before I took a look at the internals of the gauge. I shot the wires today and the sender in the tank is grounding out so now I need to pull the tank.
The tank only has one wire. I'm getting continuity from the connect to the tank, body and when I had the wire hooked up to the gauge I'm grounding out the gauge cluster. Doesn't seem right to me but I could be missing something
dont know about everyone else but all the tanks i ever puller havd a ground wire one the sending unit from on eof the mounting screws to the frame
The tank probably grounded through the straps. It is a single wire in to the sender on my 54 car. And they used low voltage gauges and sending units well past period (my 85 dodge truck has a little metal box with 3 pins on the instrument panel that drops the volts to about 6.) There are plans on alpar to build one. I plan on doing this for mine its a capacitor a chip a heat sink and some soldering. I have the original gauge and the original sending unit in mine along with a 12 volt upgrade. The crumbled black plastic piece sounds a lot like the chip in the upgrade here. Probably failed over time. If it didn't have a sink it could have degraded quickly. http://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/electrical2.html Here is the location it is down a bit. I can hook up the one I built and give you some feedback on it if you like.
I did a search on how to build an instrument voltage regulator (5v) and found a sight called V8TV that had a cool video on how to build one. 2 hours and $4 later I got my l temp gauge working. The fuel reads full because of the ground problem. I'll have to pull the tank to check the sending unit. The tank is supported on the ends by brackets that bolt directly to the tank. I didn't pull the sending unit the last time because I couldn't find a gasket.
Tried mine as well and it also read full. Used to work with this pickup before I took the car all apart I'm still waiting on my heat sink for mine anyway, so I'll worry about it later.
Magnus, I made a heatsink out of 1" aluminum angle stock 2" long. So far so good. I tried everything to isolate the ground problem on the tank but all I can conclude, without pulling the tank is that it's internal.
Ic, not really the hard way it was cheaper and took me a few hours. Besides if that one ****s out then what? If mine goes I'll know how to make another one in 15 min on the road if I find a radio shack.
the chip is less than $2 shipping is more. My radio shack is about a mile away, plus I've pretty much rebuilt this car, and I am proud of what I can do.
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