None of the guages on my '71 work... is there a guide to troubleshooting online?

-my clock second hand moves...
-oil pressure guage does nothing
-temp guage just barely jumps (almost undetectable) when the key is turned on
-my seat belt lights works, as does the headlight indicator.


thanks and merry Christmas!

Timbo

 

Did this stuff ever work? If they did, when did they stop working, after doing some work on the car? Have you checked your fuses?

 

GAUGES

The clock runs continuously so, so if the second hand works, it is getting power. It may be something as simple as the minute and hour hands needing to gently pushed into the mechanism. Your clock has an electro-mechanical gauge in that it uses a very brief electrical signal to wind the mechanism. The fact that it is partially working tells you that you have problems with the mechanical side. These clocks are notorious for failing early. The good news is that there is a lot of information in the archives on this and they are fairly easy to rebuild.

The oil pressure GAUGE, if original, is a direct reading gauge (no electricity required). One way to check to see if you are getting oil to the gauge is to pull the line off of the back of the gauge and turn the motor over. Don't forget to pull your coil wire so you don't shoot oil everywhere. If you get oil coming out of the line, you have a problem with your gauge. If no oil, then you may have a clogged line.

Are you saying your temp gauge registers a little bit during initial power application? Does it register normal temps when the engine is warm? More detail please. I forget the exact procedure but pull the wire off of your temp sending unit and touch it to the block. I THINK it should go off scale high. Can anyone confirm that? If it doesn't move, then you have a temperature sending unit problem.

To my understanding, each of your problems is a separate issue and should be handled as such.

Gary

 

That's correct if it goes to full scale the gauge is good & it's the sending unit or connection.
Gary, the next sentence after "confirm that?" is not correct. If it doesn't move it could be the gauge, wiring etc.

Clock- oil
Check connections.

 

The guage just ever so slightly moves when power is turned on, but then never moves at all.

Tim

 

Then I would replace it with a GAUGE from another source. If the GAUGE moves at all you are getting power to it. Please remember that this GAUGE has three points to it: the sending unit, the GAUGE itself, and the wiring harness. The replacement sending units are notoriously inaccurate but can be calibrated if you have an IR gun.

Gary