Jump to content

83-84 cluster volt gauge


prototype78
 Share

Recommended Posts

It's an amp gauge not a volt gauge. It's supposed to be in the middle when off. It will be between the middle and the + side when charging the battery or running heavy loads. If it ever goes to the - side when the engine is running and stays there you know the alternator isn't working and the battery is discharging.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

It would be tricky to get an amp gauge working in a car that wasn't originally fitted with one. StarQuests that came with the amp gauge have a really long main power wire within the fusible link box. Most of this wire is coiled up inside the bottom of the box, beneath the relays. The Amp gauge is connected to either end of this (via a 5A fuse), and acts as a shunt around the main power wire. The gauge only takes a small fraction of the charging (or discharging) current, as most of is passes through the big coiled wire. They typically no longer work, due to corroded connections at the fuse (next to the high beam indicator fuse) or the screw connections to the flexible circuit board on the back of the gauge cluster itself.

 

The FSM will show how the amp gauges are connected, but not the fact that there is a big length of coiled wire involved. It's a s***, wasteful system, is prone to failure, and should be removed.

 

Doing the reverse however, getting a voltage gauge working in place of an amp gauge, shouldn't be too hard. A voltage gauge will be more reliable, and tell you almost the same amount of information. I'd go that route.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...