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instrument gauge cluster problems |
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farna 
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Moderator Lost Dealership Project Joined: Jul/08/2007 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 19676 |
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 Topic: instrument gauge cluster problemsPosted: Apr/15/2019 at 6:31am |
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Any electronics store (or Amazon?) would have a multi position Molex connector (standard 0.062" pin and socket) . They come in 1-36 pin sizes, increments of two (except for the single, or course!). You might want to use one of those instead of individual connectors for the wires. I know those round connectors on the back of the original PCB are a PITA to remove, but then they have usually been on there many years... even those that have been removed a time or two like yours have probably been on 10-20 years between removals. I use those for car stereo installs in my old vehicles. Wire one of those into the car and keep an index card with the pin-out in the glove box, wire that side up to the pigtail with the stereo. Easy to swap out that way, just get another connector and wire the pigtail, plug in.
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Frank Swygert
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6PakBee
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Posted: Apr/13/2019 at 9:08am |
I think those questions rank right up with who turns out the light when the freezer door closes, where does the fire go when it goes out, and what is the meaning of life. As to the LM7805 chip, I know it's used a lot and was the first (to the best of my knowledge) electronic replacement for the automotive electromechanical regulator. I personally use the version from rt-engineering as it mimics the original and isn't prone to a failure that would apply the full +12v to the gauges. Again, just personal preference. |
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Roger Gazur
1969 'B' Scheme SC/Rambler 1970 RWB 4-spd Machine 1970 Sonic Silver auto AMX All project cars. Forum Cockroach |
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990V8
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Joined: Oct/07/2016 Location: Gloucestershire Status: Offline Points: 788 |
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Posted: Apr/13/2019 at 4:17am |
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Carefully.... ha !!
Just got back to this. Fortunately there was a bit of slack in the loom, I was able to flip the cluster so it was facing upwards, then tug at the plug. Noooo. Eventually, I cut the loom. With the cluster out of the car I see two old solder repairs on the pcb. Will check the continuity. And there's a flying wire been run from earth to earth between the fuel and temp gauges so I presume the pcb was bad there as well. The voltage reg has silver foil on the back, that seems a little odd or perhaps they were made that way, I see a lot of silver foil in old cars usually in the fusebox. The plug... that plug with ten pins... carefully ha!! With it off the car, I had to haul and wiggle at that plug with all my strength to get it off. One of the pins - to the oil light - was already pulled off the board, someone had repaired it by spreading some wires underneath so it made contact when the plug was pushed in. The oil light did work. Was hoping to put led bulbs in but that creates a problem with the dimmer. Now I need to lengthen the loom a little and put some bullet connectors on the stubs of the wires. I could solder new pins in the plug with longer tails, but I don't have all the wire colours. Why is nothing ever simple? And why are none of the sets of rechargeable batteries for my camera holding charge....... Ivor
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63 Canadian Ambo 990 V8 327
74 LandRover Lightweight V8 SIII Shopping Trolley |
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farna
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Posted: Mar/13/2019 at 5:47am |
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CAREFULLY unplug the main connector to the cluster. The wires sometimes stick to the board and pull out of the connector. Not to big an issue -- spray some electric connection cleaner on them and use a small pair of needle nose pliers to twist then pull off, reinsert in connector. Not much pressure with the pliers! Then use the spray electric contact cleaner to clean the connections. If you can't find the cleaner alcohol wipes or cotton swabs dipped in alcohol will clean the pins, you can dip the connector in alcohol for a few minutes then let it hang and evaporate for a couple hours before plugging back in. Alcohol is cheap enough, and rubbing alcohol will work ok, though a more pure solvent type will work better.
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Frank Swygert
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990V8
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Posted: Mar/12/2019 at 6:06am |
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OK !! Didn't understand what I was looking at in those pics, it's tiny !
Just bought one from Texas Instruments. As you say, it could just be corrosion. Sometimes the signal indicators don't flash. There was a leak in the heater core that led to a lot of steam going behind the dash, might have been going on for years, and I expect that has caused some corrosion, perhaps the earthing of the whole cluster is bad. Ivor
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63 Canadian Ambo 990 V8 327
74 LandRover Lightweight V8 SIII Shopping Trolley |
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farna
Supporter of TheAMCForum
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Posted: Mar/12/2019 at 5:02am |
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Your 63 should be exactly the same as the photos in the link with the electronic regulator conversion. You could just have a corroded connection, probably where the regulator plugs into the circuit board behind the cluster, or the regulator could be dying. I'd just replace it with the electronic one while the cluster was out myself. The regulator works by a bi-metal switch which gets hot, turns off, cools turns on -- creating an approximate average of 5V. Sounds like yours is not getting a good connection, and it could be internal due to burned points, and taking a bit to heat up, but once it starts working it's fine. So how long until the points corrode or burn enough it stops working entirely? It's only 56 years old....
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Frank Swygert
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990V8
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Posted: Mar/11/2019 at 12:08pm |
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I did wonder. When it first happened, it came back after, uhhh, 30 miles or so.
On our latest outing, it was over 200 miles. I wondered if it was something drying out. No fuel gauge is a bit worrisome. The last time I had a car with no working gauge, it had a reserve tank. There was a lever on the rear wing (fender). Lift the lever, it gave another 30 miles or so. And that was in the 70s, when the supermarkets hadn't destroyed the small fuel retailers so there was a garage around every corner. Ivor
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63 Canadian Ambo 990 V8 327
74 LandRover Lightweight V8 SIII Shopping Trolley |
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pacerman
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Posted: Mar/11/2019 at 9:15am |
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You probably just have an intermittent (read: loose or corroded) connection either on the power or ground side of the circuit. Joe
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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990V8
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Posted: Mar/11/2019 at 7:55am |
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Can the electronic reg be used in the Ambo, my 63 has the reg built into the cluster.
My fuel/fuel mainly don't work at all, then after running some miles, they both come back simultaneously. I have to pull the cluster, like to get it sorted so I don't have to pull it again. Ivor
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63 Canadian Ambo 990 V8 327
74 LandRover Lightweight V8 SIII Shopping Trolley |
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detmarlin65
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Joined: Jul/12/2015 Location: Tampa,Florida Status: Offline Points: 180 |
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Posted: Feb/27/2019 at 1:13pm |
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i will try that next, thanks,
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BjH
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990V8 wrote: