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  View original topic: Questions about gauges
gutwrencher Sun Nov 30, 2003 8:47 pm

I have a 64 notch and was wondering if someone has a schematic for the wiring to the gauges. Please review my following issues and reply if you have any insight:

1. Clock is labled 6V on the back. Light works, but clock does not.
2. Speedo works, but light does not. Cant tell if it is 6V or 12V.
3. Fuel gauge light works, but the fuel meter is erratic and innacurate. This does say 12V on the gauge.

I am currently running a 12V setup. Any insight or comments is much appreciated!

Gut

Anniehum Sun Nov 30, 2003 10:33 pm

I am kind of a rookie but my understanding of the clock is that they did not hold up well in any of the cars. Due to the joggling about. I could be wrong on that but that is what I was told about my clock. The gas gauge could be a bad float in the tank. Sometimes they get waterlogged. Not with water but with fuel. That would make the gauge read inaccuraetly. As to wiring I will leave that up to the more experianced Sambaites.
Good luck
Annie

EverettB Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:18 am

The clock is wired directly to constant power on the fusebox. Most clocks do not work. If it used to work on 6v, you probably blew it up on 12v.

The speedometer has no voltage but the bulb does. Pull out the bulb and read the side to see what voltage it is. Make sure the speedometer is fully inserted into the dash so it is grounded.

The fuel gauge is hooked up to "keyed" power at the fusebox. If it is jumping around but still works, the sender may be going out or may just have a bad ground at the tank. You may want to pull the sender and clean it out but first make sure the bolts that mount it are clean and tight.

Bobnotch Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:24 am

Well, I'll take a quick stab at this.
1) If the clock is 6v and you're using 12v to power it, its probably smoked the fuse. The fuse getting burned thru is common on all of the clocks, because when the car is parked the slow drain on the battery causes the fuse to blow after some time.
2) Speedo light not working can be either blown bulb, or no power/ground for it to work. Since the clock light works, try swapping it into the speedo, and see if it works there. This will help let you know if its a bulb or something else.
3) Fuel gauge needle bouncing around is usually a grounding issue, try adding a ground wire to one of the screws on the sender to a good body ground location (tank might not be properly grounded). Later cars (after 69) had extra ground wires in different locations to fix some of these issues. I hope this helps.

gutwrencher Tue Dec 02, 2003 11:08 am

Everett and Bobnotch, thanks for the advice. I figured the clock might be blown becuase of the 12v conversion done by a PO. I will take a look at each of these things mentioned and see what I can accomplish. I find it interesting that the clock says 6v but the light still works. I will re-post if I find anything of note.

Gut

EverettB Tue Dec 02, 2003 11:31 am

You can change the clock light bulb to 12v without affecting the clock itself.

You can always pull it out and check if you are curious, although a 6v bulb on a 12v system will usually blow pretty quick, after it gets REALLY bright.



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