A bunch of general gauge questions...

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    Author Topic: A bunch of general gauge questions...  (Read 2028 times)

    Offline duecuda440

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    A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « on: October 15, 2003 - 02:33:14 AM »
    Hey everyone,

    Just got a '73 barracuda, and have a few gauge questions, which I'll bet you guys have probably answered dozens of times before...  For starters, my temp gauge isn't working.  I suspect that it might be the wiring or temp sending unit.  Is there any way to test this or the gauge?  Second, on my car, and the pics that i have noticed of other cars, it appears that the alt. gauge is always in the middle on these cars, even when the car is off.  On any other cars that I have driven (non muscle or mopar cars), this gauge drops down when the car is shut off.  Is this gauge supposed to operate like this, and if so, how can you tell if it is actually working?  My final gauge question pertains to the speedometer.  While driving, the speedo needle bounces up and down - I beleive that changing the gear and speedo cable should fix this problem.  Am I correct in assuming so?

    Any help or insight that you guys can provide is greatly appreciated.  I think this message board is great, and I'm sure I'll use it a lot now that I finally got a cuda.

    Thanks,

    Rick
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    Offline Chryco Psycho

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    Re:A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « Reply #1 on: October 15, 2003 - 03:55:08 AM »
     Welcome Rick
    power is routed through the guage & grounds through the resister in the sender , so all you need to do is grond the wire to the guage to see if the rest of the cicuit & guage is working properly
     the bouncing speedo can usually be fixed by either lubricating the speedo cable o rreplacing the cable , sometimes the speedo is the poblem though
     the ammeter is supposed to rst in the center , volt guages drop to zero
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    Offline Pistol Gripper

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    Re:A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « Reply #2 on: October 15, 2003 - 04:59:20 AM »
    duecuda440,

    Welcome to the board.  Another little quirk about the ammeter vs. a voltmeter,  if you unhook the wires from the guage, you can't start the car, won't crank or anything.  It seems all the power has to go through it.  I figure if you're messing around with the guages you might unplug it and spend a lot of time trying to figure out why it won't start, like I did  >:(

    Enjoy,

    P.G.
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    Offline Chryco Psycho

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    Re:A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « Reply #3 on: October 15, 2003 - 01:18:52 PM »
    that is how the ammeter works , it has to carry the load across it to indicate which direction th ecurrent is flowing , if it reads in the negative you are draining the battery , if it reads in the positive , the alternator is producing more power than is being used & it is charging the battery
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    Offline MEK-Dangerfield

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    Re:A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « Reply #4 on: October 15, 2003 - 05:12:30 PM »
     :D Welcome aboard Rick,
      You'll love this site, and I'm sure we'll love any pictures of your car that you can post.
      Chryco brings up a good point of amp meter vs. volt meter. Do you have standard or rally gauges? I'm not sure about standard, but rally was an amp meter. There is always the possiblity someone put an after-market meter in too. Anyway, It better be in the middle when the ignition is off, if it's an amp meter, otherwise something is draining the battery. All power goes thru it except for the starter. As for the speedo problem. I would guess it's the cable. They aren't that expensive at the local parts stores. I'd try that first. Good luck.

      Mike
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    Mike

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    Offline oldvamoparfan

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    Re:A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « Reply #5 on: October 22, 2003 - 03:28:35 PM »
    Almost, or maybe all, cars of 60's or 70's vintage used ammeters instead of voltmeters.  As indicated by our other Mopar pals, ammeters are in series w/ the load circuit, & all current, whether charging or discharging must go through the meter.  Volt meters are always wired as a paralell circuit, & can be totally disconnected with out affecting the operation of the vehicle.  The only exception on the ammeter deal is the starter, which bypasses it altogether, because it can pull from approx 140 to over 200 amps, & the ammeter is usually only calibrated for up to 50 or 60 amps.  A lot of newer vehicle alternators will put out from 105 to 150 amps, but since voltmeters dont carry the current, they dont care.   Ovmf
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    Offline MEK-Dangerfield

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    Re:A bunch of general gauge questions...
    « Reply #6 on: October 22, 2003 - 05:18:21 PM »
    Nicely put, OVMF  ;D

      Mike
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    Mike

    1970 Challenger - SOLD
    2016 SXT+.  1 of 524 SXT+'s in Plumb-crazy for 2016.
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