Gauges

I can't say I know for sure what to check other than the wires themselves. When my coolant temperature gauge started reading only zero, I was ready to check the gauge and the sensor separately, but it turned out that the wire had snapped at the sensor. Therefore, I put a new connector on, hooked it up and it worked, so I didn't need to check my gauge or my sensor.

When I first got the car, my alternator gauge only moved about a hair's width except when I started the car, it moved about three hair's width. After replacing the alternator wiring loom during an engine swap, my gauge now moves, but only enough that I know it's working. I don't really need more than that.

If I were you, I'd trace the wires and verify that they're all hooked up correctly. Beyond that, I'd bust out my service manuals.

suki243 said:

Hey guys, I was wondering, what is the procedure on testing whether the gauges are broken or the sensor is no longer working?
Right now my fuel, speedometer ( is a little off), after market oil pressure gauge, and aftermarket RPM gauge are the only ones that are working.
The amp current one just stays in the middle all the time even when the ignition is off, the water heat one stays below 0, and the oil heat one stays at 0 all the time.

I have a multimeter if that helps.

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This is my take on the situation; The speedometer works because it is mechanical and has no electric hookup to work or not work. Your gauges that work are aftermarket guages that probabaly require 12 volts that have been hooked up to a 12v source either from the fuse box of direct to battery. The gauges are new as well as the wiring that goes with them (probably) and maybe even the sensors.

The gauges that don't work are the origainal ones. So my GUESS would be that the voltage regulator that is supplying power to the original gauges is bad (a $15 part from your local parts house). THe voltage regulator I believe supplies 8V of power to the gauges. Replace that and see what works.

The voltage regulator is the small brown rectangular device shown on the large gauage on the right and has two wires running to it.

geostang351 said:

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So my GUESS would be that the voltage regulator that is supplying power to the original gauges is bad (a $15 part from your local parts house). THe voltage regulator I believe supplies 8V of power to the gauges. Replace that and see what works.

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the part is actually about 25-40 bucks and the soldered tabs break of real easy(cheap part). Go to radio shack and make your own.They sell voltage regulators for about 3 bucks and you want one that steps the voltage down to about 5 volts