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1966 Mustang gauges not working

453 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  crwalker54
When I turn the key the gas gauge moves up from all the way left to resting on e, the oil jumps all the way up and when I start the car it slowly goes all the way to the left, the speedo works, and amps and temp dont move at all
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When I turn the key the gas gauge moves up from all the way left to resting on e, the oil jumps all the way up and when I start the car it slowly goes all the way to the left, the speedo works, and amps and temp dont move at all
In my experience, most electrical problems can be traced to a bad ground. Your battery needs to be grounded to the engine, the frame and the coach of the car. The car is mounted on rubber and needs a dedicated ground. Just because you have a ground cable, don't assume it's good. put a volt meter between the battery and the other end of the ground cable. Positive cable of the meter to the ground of the battery and negative end where the battery ground connects to the car. You are checking for line loss in the cable. It can't be the ground cable, it's there! and has been for 60 YEARS.
In my experience, most electrical problems can be traced to a bad ground. Your battery needs to be grounded to the engine, the frame and the coach of the car. The car is mounted on rubber and needs a dedicated ground. Just because you have a ground cable, don't assume it's good. put a volt meter between the battery and the other end of the ground cable. Positive cable of the meter to the ground of the battery and negative end where the battery ground connects to the car. You are checking for line loss in the cable. It can't be the ground cable, it's there! and has been for 60 YEARS.
I forgot, have someone try to turn the engine over while checking. Should be very little voltage.
considering the gauges operate at a reduced voltage , voltage drop across the neg bat cable isn't very important.
gas gauge show empty- likely the sending unit. oil pressure drops- check oil pressure with mechanical gauge. if pressure is good, the sender is bad. ammeter reading won't show much unless you put a big load on the system. - turn on high beams, wipers, and brake lights to see it change. temp gauge- ground the wire to the sender and see if the needle moves
The car needs a good ground to operate everything on the dash. A friend had a Jensen Healey car that had a very weird gauge cluster. The blinker lights would come on intermittently, the radio would work and then not work, the alternator light would glimmer weakly. He had it to several shops, no help. He had radio electronics mechanics from United Air Lines try all to no avail. I put a test light between the master cylinder mounting screws ( a good ground ) and his dash cluster and got a light. Made a dedicated ground wire and connected to the dash and no more problems. My father had a car that would not turn over. New battery, no help. Jump the car with pos to pos and ground to alternator mount and it would fire right up! Bad ground cable. Not everyone will check a ground because they see it's there. I am not god of the mechanic's, but I did make my living since 1970 working as one. Just trying to help, good luck.
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