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Gauges [message #338958]

Thu, 22 November 2018 09:18

Eleganza2 Newbie

Messages: 9
Registered: October 2018
Location: Boone, NC USA

Karma: 0

Junior Member

Greetings everyone. I posted several days ago that I was struggling to get my gauges to work. Here is what I have done.

Check and replaced the fuse that said "gauges and Trans"

Taken the Dash apart and cleaned the screws and the base plate with a wire brush

Taken a piece of wire and run it from the bolt on the alternator to the dash plate then to the screws holding on the gauges assembly. Then I tried going to the negative terminal on the battery.

I turned on the ignition and still had no results other than the gauges immediately move to the "Full" "Cold" "High" positions and stay pinned there.

Am I not grounding it enough? Is there another option for checking? It seems that since all three of those gauges on the assembly are acting similar it isn't the gauge itself but rather something else. Any advice?

Michael

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Re: [GMCnet] Gauges [message #338959 is a reply to message #338958]

Thu, 22 November 2018 09:25

Richard Denney

Messages: 920
Registered: April 2010

Karma: 9

Senior Member

Check the grounding strap between the chassis and the engine block. The
instruments ground at the block, and the gauge is looking at current. And
residual ground-loop current through the instrument wiring will upset the
gauges.

Rick “guessing at this point, except that most problems are grounding”
Denney

On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 10:19 AM Michael Stevens
wrote:

> Greetings everyone. I posted several days ago that I was struggling to get
> my gauges to work. Here is what I have done.
>
> Check and replaced the fuse that said "gauges and Trans"
>
> Taken the Dash apart and cleaned the screws and the base plate with a wire
> brush
>
> Taken a piece of wire and run it from the bolt on the alternator to the
> dash plate then to the screws holding on the gauges assembly. Then I tried
> going to the negative terminal on the battery.
>
> I turned on the ignition and still had no results other than the gauges
> immediately move to the "Full" "Cold" "High" positions and stay pinned
> there.
>
>
> Am I not grounding it enough? Is there another option for checking? It
> seems that since all three of those gauges on the assembly are acting
> similar
> it isn't the gauge itself but rather something else. Any advice?
>
> Michael
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
--
Rick Denney
73 x-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Off-list email to rick at rickdenney dot com
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Re: [GMCnet] Gauges [message #338965 is a reply to message #338958]

Thu, 22 November 2018 09:59

JerryW

Messages: 256
Registered: August 2018

Karma: 1

Senior Member

Do not run the ground to the negative terminal of the battery. When you start if your battery terminal connection that goes to the engine block is loose you could get so many amps through the ground wire that you could burn up the wire.

You are probably looking at the wrong side of the gauge. Rather than looking at the ground of the gauge case you should check the wires leading from the gauge sender to the gauge. Each gauge has two terminals. The gauge works by grounding through the sender. If there is maximum resistance such as an open wire the gauge will go to high. If there is a shorted wire it will go to zero.
Check the back of the board where the gauges are mounted and look for an open wire.

Emery Stora
77 Kingsley
Frederick, CO

> On Nov 22, 2018, at 8:18 AM, Michael Stevens wrote:
>
> Greetings everyone. I posted several days ago that I was struggling to get my gauges to work. Here is what I have done.
>
> Check and replaced the fuse that said "gauges and Trans"
>
> Taken the Dash apart and cleaned the screws and the base plate with a wire brush
>
> Taken a piece of wire and run it from the bolt on the alternator to the dash plate then to the screws holding on the gauges assembly. Then I tried
> going to the negative terminal on the battery.
>
> I turned on the ignition and still had no results other than the gauges immediately move to the "Full" "Cold" "High" positions and stay pinned there.
>
>
> Am I not grounding it enough? Is there another option for checking? It seems that since all three of those gauges on the assembly are acting similar
> it isn't the gauge itself but rather something else. Any advice?
>
> Michael
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

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Re: [GMCnet] Gauges [message #339025 is a reply to message #338959]

Sat, 24 November 2018 18:45

Eleganza2 Newbie

Messages: 9
Registered: October 2018
Location: Boone, NC USA

Karma: 0

Junior Member

Where is that grounding strap?

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Re: [GMCnet] Gauges [message #339039 is a reply to message #339025]

Sun, 25 November 2018 09:06

C Boyd

Messages: 2629
Registered: April 2006

Karma: 18

Senior Member

There are 2 grounding straps. One on the RF body mount and one on the RR transmission mount. Is your dash and gauges OEM or aftermarket? It is unusual for all the gauges to be off unless they have been replaced with aftermarket.

Eleganza2 Newbie wrote on Sat, 24 November 2018 19:45

Where is that grounding strap?

C. Boyd
76 Crestmont
East Tennessee

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Re: Gauges [message #339099 is a reply to message #338958]

Tue, 27 November 2018 07:55

Eleganza2 Newbie

Messages: 9
Registered: October 2018
Location: Boone, NC USA

Karma: 0

Junior Member

As far as I know they are OEM. They sure look like the original ones.

Some secondary aftermarket gauges were added down low. AS far as I can tell they aren't independent of the main gauges. They have water temp, oil pressure, RPM and vacuum. The main gauges are the ones I need working....specifically the fuel tank levels and the temperature (The aux temp gauge isn't working well either).

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Re: Gauges [message #339101 is a reply to message #339099]

Tue, 27 November 2018 08:40

C Boyd

Messages: 2629
Registered: April 2006

Karma: 18

Senior Member

The water temp OEM sending unit is suppose to be in the LF of the intake manifold in a water jacket with one wire going to it. Grounding this wire should make a difference in the gauge reading with key on. If the aftermarket water temp gauge is manual the sender may have been moved cause the cable to manual gauge is to short to go anywhere else. Most I have seen are moved to RF of intake where the vacuum tree is suppose to be or in the rear of intake in water jacket. The OEM oil pressure sending unit is about 3" in front of the water temp sending unit coming up out of block behind timing cover. Again grounding this single wire should change the gauge reading. Both of these wires run in a covered harness that runs around alternator to dash and could be compromised inside the covered harness.

If the aftermarket gauges are electrical instead of manual they should have their own separate sending units and not piggybacked off one sending unit. Chase the wires and see what is going where.

Eleganza2 Newbie wrote on Tue, 27 November 2018 08:55

As far as I know they are OEM. They sure look like the original ones.

Some secondary aftermarket gauges were added down low. AS far as I can tell they aren't independent of the main gauges. They have water temp, oil pressure, RPM and vacuum. The main gauges are the ones I need working....specifically the fuel tank levels and the temperature (The aux temp gauge isn't working well either).

C. Boyd
76 Crestmont
East Tennessee

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Re: Gauges [message #339102 is a reply to message #338958]

Tue, 27 November 2018 09:03

JohnL455

Messages: 4447
Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL

Karma: 12

Senior Member

My experience with stuff like this if you put everything back to factory correct with clean connections it will work. I often suggest Caig D5 spray as the best contact cleaner and always keep a can on board. Your alternator add on wire is really scarring me on many levels. I suggest disconnecting the oil and water sender wires and turn key on. See guage response. Then ground each to engine and check gauge response. You can see if cluster responds or if senders are bad.

John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

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