quad gauge rallye dash, no readings.

[culp71]

71 cuda, w rallye dash, the mph gauge works, tach gauge works, and clock works.

however the quad gauge w fuel, temp, oil and ammeter do not function.
I have looked over the connections over and over, ran a separate ground and have power to the voltage reducer unit and have that connected to each corresponding unmarked studs. nothing.
I ran master gauges off engine and have temp and oil levels that register and are correct.
5 gallons of fuel in tank currently.
I currently have nothing connected to the ammeter gauge, could this effect function of the other gauges?

thoughts?

[Cuda Cody]

All 4 gauges (in the single housing that is 3rd from the left) do not work? Does the power run through the Ammeter?   

[culp71]

yes all 4 gauges (in the single housing that is 3rd from the left) do not work
so unless the ammeter would have to be wired in to allow the other three to function, which I wouldn't see why this would be correct but I will focus only on the fuel temp and oil for now as I didn't plan to use the ammeter rather later intergrade a volt meter...

I don't know if the connect of the Ammeter gauge matters or would stop other gauges from working but all senders are connected, and I get 12 v into voltage reducer, and should have around 5 out to each of these 3 gauges, right?

[anlauto]

With the ammeter not hooked up, there's no power going through the car. In order for the gauges to work the key has to be on, and I'm assuming they would need power. Try hooking up the ammeter and turning the key on

[ToxicWolf]

I had the ammeter converted to voltmeter.  Just a thought.

[culp71]

I do have power to the three gauges that I plan to use, but you think the ammeter needs power to it to allow the other three to function, ill try it as I don't know.
I did check and with the key on/ and or running none of the gauges move, I do have 12 v to the back voltage reducer that is routed to the unmark stud on each of the three gauges, (fuel, oil, temp) and on the stud mark with various color, I have each sending unit connected.
I do plan on changing ammeter to volt meter but was hoping to have all other function now.
anyone know how many volts should be coming out of this unit to feed all these gauges?

black arrow is where I have the ground mounted and the stock"noise suppressor" is not installed
red arrow is the new 2 prong limiter in question, what voltage should this put out?

[1 Wild R/T]

IVR should put out 5-6 volts... And it's very likely thats where your problem is...

[Cudajason]

Are the gauges currently in car???

If so, and you have verified you have 12 volts to the voltage regulator, with the key on / car running, have you verified that you have 5 volts coming out of the  Voltage regulator?

If you do not have 5 volts, that is your problem an the gauges are probably now fried.

If you do have 5 volts, I will asks the obvious question, do you have the correct wires connected to each of the three gauges.  The gauges operate based on the resistance provide from the sending unit. With out the proper sender attached, the gauges will not function.

I do no think you need to have the Ammeter connected to have the gauges operational, provided of course you have the ammeter properly bypassed / 12 volts to the voltage regulator.

I hope this is helpful.

Jason

[culp71]

yes all gauges are in the car
I do have 12 v at the top spade of the voltage reducer, i will check to output to see if its 5-6 volts tonight.
when i checked it with a 12 volt test light, i had 12v at the top and what appeared to be nothing at the bottom, but now i know it should be  5-6 V I will check with a voltmeter tonight.

the voltage reducer is new from Vans auto.
as well as all new gauges that bench tested ok, with this voltage reducer before installation.

i will check for volt output and re check my ground again

[Claudia]

I agree with @Cudajason above . . . I also had a similar issue at one point . . . personally, I would suspect your voltage limiter as the problem.  If you have already tested your gauges before and know that they work, you can quickly rule out the voltage limiter as the suspect part by taping three AA batteries together (end to end) to obtain your 5V output power supply and then test the gauges individually to see if they react or not.

[dodj]

5V regulator is done. Buy a new one. rte sells solid state ones.
(or it came loose)

[culp71]

alright so I tested the voltage limiter...with the key on, I have 12 v to the top spade, and nothing at the bottom , however when I disconnect the 3 way branch that routes this power to each gauge I have 5 .02 v at the bottom spade of the voltage limiter.
so the limiter is fine, but as soon as I connect to any of the (quad) gauges, I get no power as I tried each independently......so I am now questioning how these 4 gauges mount through the entire gauge bezel housing.
If I recall each gauge in the quad setup has two threaded posts. they pass through the gauge bezel housing, and are mounted with nuts, then each stud gets either the sender signal wire routed to it and the other the 3 way branch from the voltage limiter power supply.
so if the gauge bezel housing is grounded, how do mounting post of gauges not ground through the housing so the ground and power supplied wouldn't cause a short?...
are there to be nylon spacers or brass nuts, or something used to mount but isolate them so these gauges into the housing to prevent this grounding issue?

at this point I suspect that each gauge is not mounted with correct isolation causing a short problem, any info or pics of proper gauge to gauge housing would be greatly appreciated.

[culp71]

so i did some digging and found a non rallye gauge cluster from a e-body...I took out the gauges and found that each gauge had a thin foam like plastic strip on the inside, and outside along with a small o ring around each gauge mounting /wire post to prevent contact with gauge housing.
this makes perfect sense as to why I am having an issue, as the new gauges did not come with anything, and I pieced the dash together and never had or knew that these were to be there, not happy that I have to pull the dash apart again but happy that that's all it is.

?does anyone sell a gauge mount kit that has all these instrument gauge mounting Stud Insulator/ strips, "o/square-rings" for mounting gauges into the bezel?

I haven't been able to find the correct set, I am thinking of simply piecing together my own using various nylon/felt sleeves spacers and washers.

[Chryco Psycho]

That would be the problem ,they have to be insulated from the metal dash frame , fiber or nylon spacers will work , no one will ever see them & I do not know of any repro washers , you could check wiith Roseville , Dave would know if repro are available

[culp71]

finally... 
after a lot of very slow moving, careful screw and piece removal, I was able to pull the gauges back out from the "completed" dash.  I removed all these 4 small gauges, went to Running's and got an assortment of felt, rubber and nylon washers, sleeves, spacers and O-rings, I put it all back together and started her up.

The oil pressure gauge jump right up to life, then the temp begun to move...I don't have the ammeter gauge hooked up as I plan to swap gauge to a voltage gauge, so that didn't move but I know why.

However the fuel gauge never moved. figure it would go up as soon as I turned key on, as I now have 5 volt coming out of limiter going to each gauge...
I know I only had 5 gallons in it before breaking in cam/running engine for the first time etc. so maybe just not enough fuel to register?? any idea how much tank needs before it will register?

so before I pull gauges again...is there away to easily check to see if the wire coming from the tank is sending the proper signal without having to remove gauges, or exhaust/heat shield etc?