fastbackford351

OK. I am sick and tired of my factory gauges not working (other than the tach, clock, fuel) so it's past high time to get them working.

I want to get the temperature gauge, ammeter warning light, the oil warning light going. and my factory wiring is pretty well intact but here is where the difficulty comes in:

#1: I can't find a good schematic, even in my factory manual, showing the wiring to the oil pressure and the temperature gauges. I'm finding the one for a 66, but not for a 67 (interesting note: the schematic in the manual for the cluster side shows it as being an "oil temperature gauge". Pretty sure that's a misprint)

#2 I have swapped out the cluster for a Shelby cluster w/tach so that eliminated the oil and ammeter gauges and replaced them with idiot lights and nowhere in my manual do I see a schematic for that cluster.


Also, which bundle of wires coming through the firewall on the engine side will I find these connectors? Anybody have any pictures of said connector?


I appreciate the help, guys.

barnett468

i hate wiring?

do none of the gauges work?

there is a 3 gang plug coming from the firewall on around 10" of wire . the wires for the gauges plugs into that . this is the first place to look.

you need to change the senders . gauges use different senders than idiot lites do.

i may still have a wiring diagram . i can look for it later . another place to look is in the link below.

http://www.midlife66.com/wiring/wiring.html
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fastbackford351

Well, the fuel gauge, the clock and the tach/speedo all work but the other three don't.

I have the correct idiot lite sender for the oil light coming but that opened up another can of worms. Currently, I'm running a mechanical SW gauge and want to keep that in addition to the idiot light so I am also in the process of finding a solution for that little dilemma. I just have the gauge plumbed directly into the block now so I need an adapter that will allow me to connect both of them in there.

I actually had the perfect solution that I pulled from a 1965 F-Series U-Haul. I snagged the cluster and the 2 way adapter because it was the only factory FoMoCo setup that I have ever seen that had both a gauge and an idiot light. I thought that was brilliant but sat on it for years until some guy rebuilding his truck made me an offer I couldn't refuse for the cluster & adapter and now I feel like a smacked ***. Lesson learned: Always keep the good stuff for yourself.


Thanks for the link and the 411. I'll chew on those a while and see what I can come up with.

barnett468

ok, your instrument voltage regulator is working so that's half the battle.

check the continuity from the 3 gang plug back to the gauges.

you can also simply disconnect the 3 gang plug then run 12 volts from the coil wire post directly into the gauge posts then turn the key on for 2 seconds and see if the gauges move . if you still have the org resistor wire it will only have 9 volts but it still should be enough to move the gauges.

DORMAN has brass T fittings to solve your one problem . Any parts store can order them . Find them in the link below.

http://www.dormanproducts.com/c-15-brass-fittings.aspx

fastbackford351

I was hoping not to have to pull the cluster but that's obviously a pipe dream. I figured the voltage regulator was good since my fuel gauge is working so yeah, that part is a non-issue.

I believe I found the 3 gang plug and that was a bit of a nut roll in and of itself. One of the leads, don't know which one, wasn't even there and the other two were hanging on by a thread. While I was fondling them one broke off and the other just pulled right out. So I spent an hour scrounging around for a replacement plug and found one in my stash. I soldered and heatshrank the two leads but need to figure out where that 3rd one got to.

barnett468

umm, yeah, i think you found the prob.

no need to take the dash out until you do the test i suggested.

what 3rd wire are you missing?

tell me what wires are on it coming from the firewall and i can tell you what is what . easy deal.
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fastbackford351

I'm pinning my hopes on that test working out for me. I can't imagine that I wouldn't have connected those wires when I installed the cluster eons ago. The ones that are sticking in my craw are whether or not I put the bulbs in for the oil & ammeter.
The wires are a bit tough to read but it looks like a red w/white (blue?) and a white w/blue(?). The "blue" could be overspray from myriad paint touchups 'n such over the years. Being mildly color blind can be a bit of a bitch sometimes when I try reading wires like that.

fastbackford351

HA! Wingo!

The oil light lights up like a champ and the temperature gauge moves! So that kinda narrows down the connection that I'm looking for and my brother shed a little light on that for me too. I was walking over the problem with him and made the comment that we (he owned the car before me) had always tried to not hack up the wiring and he kinda winced and said, "Well, you might want to take a look at that ammeter connection.". I couldn't bust his ***** too bad because he got the car when he was in his early 20's and didn't know thin schit from apple butter about wiring. Well, he still doesn't but at least he learned quickly not to go hacking up the factory harness.


Onward and upward! Thanks for your help, Barnett. You're a gold mine.

barnett468

xnt!....

fastbackford351

Ahh, the sweet, sweet smell of success.

I had to put finishing this project on hold for a couple weeks but I was able to get back on it today and am proud to report that everything is good to go. Well, except the ammeter light. I'll leap over that mouse turd next.

But! I now have redundant oil and temperature gauges / lights which makes the fastback just that much nicer.