I have a customer's 63 that has the amp needle laying ALLLLLLLLL the way over to the left (I presume the ampmeter is bad). It worked when he got the car, now it appears to have died. I presume the ONLY way to diagnose the problem (car still runs great) is to remove the ampmeter. Can it be removed in place, or does the whole dash need to be removed?

Also, is there a method of adjusting the length of a 63 column? Some of the old literature mentions an adjustment for length, but I've never seen this done.

 

some argue this with me but I have pulled several "ammeter/fuels" from 63-64 cars.It can be done One 1/4" screw down low ,one in the middle of the "pan" and one up top.The one up top is a pita and I always use a nice flexable nutdriver for the "bend" up there.The you do have to kind of snake them out.Its really not that bad and sure beats pulling the entire cluster.
Few things on the needle..the63-64s are sensative and make sure that its not a needle bent as in it swung over there bent and now that is where it rest.

Let me know if I can help at all

Jason
VetteInstruments@aol.com

 

I changed mine with the instrument cluster removed. I did not remove it specifically to change the Ammeter - I was doing other work as well. I am guessing you will have to remove it, but am interested in hearing from other forum members - don't remove the cluster until you hear from the experts.

Dave

(I see that Jason responed while I was preparing my original post - I would try what he recommends - sure beats removing the instrument cluster)

 

I have a 67 and I have been able to remove the ammeter guage very easily without removing the dash. I have done this many times, as it seems like the ammeters in these cars are the most fragile component in the entire vehicle....You look at the guage and it fails!!!LOL

Remove the dash panel screws and replace a few of them with longer 3-5" length replacements...Then gently pull the dash cluster forward a few inches. This will provide you with additional clearance to get your hand behind the guages. MAke note and tag which wire goes where and remove the push on connectors for the ammeter and fuel guage, pull them off the back of the guages.

The ammeter and the fuel guage are both bolted to a plate that is attached to the back of the cluster with three small hex head screws as noted in the Jason's post above. You have to remove the 3 small screws and then the 2 guages (together as one assembly) will be able to be removed from the back of the cluster, by lowering the assembly down and out, so that you can remove the ammeter guage (loosten both wire tab bolts to remove the guage from the assembly) and replace it.

I put a little "Sticky" substance in the socket to hold to small hex screw to it during removal and replacement, it makes this an easier job.
You can feel these 3 screws with your fingers to determine where they are located - one is on bottom of "pan" and 2nd one is further up on middle and 3rd is near the top ....

I have done this many times for both the ammeter/fuel guages on left side and temp/oil press on rite side...Ammeter is the easiest of all.

Your amp guage sounds like it is fried, so get a new one.

Also each wire that connects to the ammeter guage should have +12 volts on them at all times when battery is connected.

If you do not have 12v on each wire the guage will not work. The amp guage is really a voltmeter that reads the differential 12 volts between the horn relay and the battery.

 

If you do not have 12v on each wire the guage will not work. The amp guage is really a voltmeter that reads the differential 12 volts between the horn relay and the battery.

What's the benefit of that reading to the driver as opposed to a voltmeter measuring voltage to the battery or ammeter measuring amp usage?

 

The ammeter guage is actually monitoring the battery voltage and the voltage at the horm relay, so under normal conditions when the engine is running and battery is charged, the needle is ususally at the straight up position.

When you turn on your lights or AC the needle swings to the right indicating that the alternator is now putting out more charge to sustain the additional load required to run these devices.

When the engine is off and you turn on your lights the needle will deflect to the left, indicating that the battery is discharging, due to no alterntor output when engine is off.

So the ammeter acts like an ammeter, but is really a voltmeter. For it to be a real ammeter it woild have to have the entire electrical load of the car run through the guage which would be at least 40 amps, which would fry that little guage.....

A volt meter will measure the voltage of the battery at all times and will indicate 12v when car is off and 14v when the car is runnibg - The higher reading of 14 volts indicates that the alternator is charging. I have both guages in my 67 - The voltmeter tells the whole story....

 

Thanks for the explanation. I wasn't quite clear on what the horn relay had to do with it.

 

Simply stated, the "battery" gauge shows whether current is flowing TO or FROM the battery, based on monitoring the voltage differential between the starter solenoid and the horn relay.

 

Thanks, John. That makes it even clearer...

 

Thank You John!

 

OK, thanks all. I knew how to remove the amp/fuel gauge duo from the instrument cluster, but DID NOT KNOW if anyone had done it with the cluster in place. Also, I feel sure, as mentioned, that the amp meter is probably bad (the needle is not bent, it is just lying all the way over to the left).

Also, any comments about the adjustability of the length of a 63 column? Personally, I don't know of any, but there was some 63 literature that refers to the length of 63 columns being adjustable as much as 3 inches??????????????????????? If so, this is news to me!!!

 

Yes, that's true - info on making the adjustment is in the owner's manual.

 

John,
No got one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where is the adjustment done?

 

Never mind, I found it and got it shortened. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO easy!