What did I fry?

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » January 12, 2008, 6:03 pm

My Instrument Panel (IP) lights have never worked since I've had this truck. However the fuel & temp gauge, hi-beam, & turn signal indicators do work. Driving at night with out seeing the speedo is a little stressful for me. BTW, this is a 66 CC with the sweep speedo, alt & oil idiot lights. Also, my flasher was incredibly slow. So, since it was a decent afternoon I decided to see what I could do to fix it.

So I removed the screws and let the IP lean out from the dash. Easy stuff first. Swapped out the heavy duty flasher for a regular flasher. Turn signals blink faster now.

Tried swapping in new #1895 bulbs for the IP illumination. Looks like there is 2 bulbs, one pretty much behind the "0" the other behind the "100" number of the speedo. The new bulbs seem slightly too short and don't want to fit, but the old bulbs are labeled as 1895. I thought maybe if I remove the IP itself, I can have a better shot at getting the bulbs in. Didn't help, so I put it back together and got a sizzle & some smoke. I put one of the gas gauge wires on the wrong threaded rod, I think. Pretty sure I burnt something up, gas gauge doesn't work anymore either.

Wires for gas - one is red, I think red goes on the left side of the gauge (sitting in drivers seat). Black/white wire on the right side? I think I put it on a third threaded rod that might hold the Alt light.

So, how should the wires go?

Did I probably fry the gas gauge? How hard to fix? If I need a new one, what are my options? I might have a 62 or there abouts fuel gage, would it work? Or is it likely not the gauge?

Are the IP light bulbs #1895 or something else? 1445? What might be keeping the lights from coming on? A ground? Where is it, & how would I improve the ground?

Thanks.

Fordman · Post by **Fordman** » January 12, 2008, 9:12 pm

the large red wire does go on the lower left side when sitting in the seat.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » January 13, 2008, 1:00 pm

http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4488

in addition the plastic bezel has a ground wire that is hooked up on the bracket right behind in the center. the wire is kind of short, if not connected it will not ground the instrument lights and they wont work. this has no effect on the gauges/idiot lights as they are separately grounded.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » January 13, 2008, 1:00 pm

http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4488

in addition the plastic bezel has a ground wire that is hooked up on the bracket right behind in the center. the wire is kind of short, if not connected it will not ground the instrument lights and they wont work. this has no effect on the gauges/idiot lights as they are separately grounded.

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » January 13, 2008, 2:39 pm

Thanks Iceman.

Where is the fuse, in the fuse box or is there one inline behind the dash that I'm not seeing?

Also, if the headlight switch is bad will it keep the dome light from working?

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » January 18, 2008, 1:27 pm

Well, I must have gotten a fuse along with whatever else damage I caused. The temp gauge is no longer working. I think I read somewhere that these are 3 amp fuses. Is that right?

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » January 18, 2008, 3:01 pm

the instrument light fuse is the real tiny one, 3a sounds right. the feed wire for the instrument lights is light blue and may be an inline on the early models. need to go look and refresh myself but later i will post the info.
this has nothing to do with the temp gauge, which is run off the sensor and the tiny voltage reg on the back of the panel.
the gauge test:
with ignition on remove sending unit wire and touch to ground, if gauge reads full(hot) sender is bad.no change indicates gauge itself. mine quit working i took out the gauge and took it apart to find the super thin wire inside had broken.replaced with one from another truck.
if none of the gauges work, the instrument regulator is likely the culprit.

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » January 19, 2008, 12:52 am

Thanks for the info Iceman. I pulled the fuse, looked good, but put a new one in anyway. I do have an inline fuse, but looks like it might be for the flasher? my fuse panel has a spot for the instrument panel fuse.

Im starting to think it could be the constant voltage regulator, but guess I need to do some checking and try to findout and quit guessing. I have read that the volts should go go back & forth from 0 to 10. How would I go about measuring that? Where would I get one if I need a new one?

Thanks.

Tim

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » January 19, 2008, 11:01 am

first thing is to see if you have power on both sides of the fuse when the lights are turned on, it might not be making a good connection.

if your gas gauge works the reg is good.

i would have to look in my manuals to see what the test procedure is for the reg but LMC and others have them.

edit: the inline is for the cig lighter.

Dakotakid · Post by **Dakotakid** » January 19, 2008, 2:49 pm

dotcentral,
You mentioned your headlight switch. If this is bad your instrument lights will not work. There is a spring in the light switch that can go bad. Check that first. If gas gauge is bad I may know where there is another for 65 -66 dash.
Good Luck!

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » January 19, 2008, 2:59 pm

Dakotakid, I do have a new headlight switch. If the rain lets up I'll try to install it this weekend. We have a cold rain right now, supposed to switch to snow later today.

My fuel gage AND my temp gauge are not working. I don't know if it is the constant voltage regulator, a wire gone bad, or I burned up both gauges. I will try to check the cvr, when I do the headlight switch. I'll let you know if I need some parts, thanks for the offer.

Iceman, To check the constant voltage regulator, guess I need to turn the key to ON, and measure the voltage across the constant voltage regulator. Not really sure what it looks like, but I figure it will be obvious once I look for it. More concerned about which probe goes where. But if it's good, my problem should be the gauges or the wiring I guess.

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » January 19, 2008, 5:55 pm

pic of rear of ip (65-66 cc) showing v. reg

[albumimg]3480[/albumimg]

grounding tab
[albumimg]3481[/albumimg]

wire goes from tab to bottom hole here ,attached with screw.
[albumimg]3482[/albumimg]

the wire is very short and is likely to come off if panel pulled too far out

tarps3 · Post by **tarps3** » June 16, 2009, 8:37 am

ICEMAN6166 wrote:the instrument light fuse is the real tiny one, 3a sounds right. the feed wire for the instrument lights is light blue and may be an inline on the early models. need to go look and refresh myself but later i will post the info.
this has nothing to do with the temp gauge, which is run off the sensor and the tiny voltage reg on the back of the panel.
the gauge test:
with ignition on remove sending unit wire and touch to ground, if gauge reads full(hot) sender is bad.no change indicates gauge itself. mine quit working i took out the gauge and took it apart to find the super thin wire inside had broken.replaced with one from another truck.
if none of the gauges work, the instrument regulator is likely the culprit.

what if the temp gauge pegs to the hot side whenever the key is turned on?
If i disconnect the lead from the sending unit, it stays pegged.

Only after I turn the key off does the gauge return to the cold side.
Do I have a loose ground under the dash or something?
All other gauges work.

this just began this morning.
The last thing I did with the truck was re-install my aftermarket stereo inder the dash on Sunday.
Did I pull off a ground wire or soemthing?
where do I look?
Casey

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » June 16, 2009, 10:18 am

tarps3 wrote:
ICEMAN6166 wrote:the instrument light fuse is the real tiny one, 3a sounds right. the feed wire for the instrument lights is light blue and may be an inline on the early models. need to go look and refresh myself but later i will post the info.
this has nothing to do with the temp gauge, which is run off the sensor and the tiny voltage reg on the back of the panel.
the gauge test:
with ignition on remove sending unit wire and touch to ground, if gauge reads full(hot) sender is bad.no change indicates gauge itself. mine quit working i took out the gauge and took it apart to find the super thin wire inside had broken.replaced with one from another truck.
if none of the gauges work, the instrument regulator is likely the culprit.
what if the temp gauge pegs to the hot side whenever the key is turned on?
If i disconnect the lead from the sending unit, it stays pegged.

Only after I turn the key off does the gauge return to the cold side.
Do I have a loose ground under the dash or something?
All other gauges work.

this just began this morning.
The last thing I did with the truck was re-install my aftermarket stereo inder the dash on Sunday.
Did I pull off a ground wire or soemthing?
where do I look?
Casey

check your other post .i replied there