Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:13:23 -0700
Reply-To: mdrillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: mdrillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Fuel/Temp Gauge Problem
In-Reply-To: <092920081244.18431.48E0CD9B000EFC11000047FF2216557996C9C9CDCB020E03020100@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
First, 80-84 instrument cluster wiring has a slightly squirrelly ground
setup, could be related, easily enough fixed if you are willing.
Remove the cluster and set aside. Find the 2 brown wires to pins 2 and 5
of the 14 pin connector for the foil. Cut both wires about 2 inches from
the connector and set the connector aside for now. Take the 2 longer
cutoff ends and splice them together with a butt connector. Next pick up
the 14 pin connector again and strip the ends of the 2 short brown leads
and put both inside one end of a butt connector, crimping just that end.
Take a two foot long piece of at least 16 gauge wire, strip the ends,
and put one end into the butt connector above, crimping it. Put a ring
connector on the other end. Find a nearby screw that goes into the metal
of the dash and screw down the ring connector end of the wire. Or drill
a hole for a new screw for the ring connector.
That may fix your gauge problems, at least. This procedure isolates the
instrument cluster ground from other dash grounds and creates a
redundant ground connection on the 14 pin connector. This applies only
to 80-84 non-tach clusters. A similar type of mod can help later
clusters but they only have one brown wire to the 14 pin connector.
Mark
J Stewart wrote:
> Hey Folks,
> I've had this issue ever since I got my '84 running again, almost two years ago now. The temp gauge stays right at the top of the "warm up" section of the gauge. It will go higher if a sit in traffic, but it has never gone above the LED. When it gets close to the LED the fan will kick on. The fuel gauge is also erratic, it will register full right after a fill up, then usually within 20-25 miles will start moving around, sinking as low as 1/4 tank, then swing back up to full. On occasion, the temp gauge will just go "dead" dropping all the way down, and when it does the fuel gauge does the same. Early on in trying to troubleshoot this, I swapped out the voltage stabilizer with two different used ones then a new one-same symptoms with all three. I then cleaned up the ground cluster under the dash-still no luck. I then dicovered a diode on the instrument cluster foil that was rusted and corroded. Found a used instrument cluster and changed out the foil and the gauge/clock porti
> on-still the same damn problem. Most recently, just for "S&G's", I changed the temp sending unit, didn't do anything. The fact that both just go "dead" tells me an electrical connection somehwere is going open. The connector to the back of the instrument cluster is clean and in good shape. Since I bought this Westy with a seized engine, I don't know if the problem existed before I bought it. Any ideas? Thanks, Jeff
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