Joffroi

My car is back to working like a champ and I would like to drive it around and know how much gas I have and what speed I am going. It would also be nice to know what time it is. Unfortunately, none of my gauges actually work. They are getting power, the lights in the gauges work, but the actual gauge part doesn't move.

Gas gauge
Meter does not work, but all the lights seem to. The over heating light has kicked on, along with the alternator light.

Speedometer
The meter has moved to about sixty and has hopped around a couple times, but is currently stuck on the 60mph mark. When I turn the brights on, the little light does come on so I know its getting power. (Note, I have a column shifter)

Clock
Just doesn't work.

What is the best way of getting all these working again?

Thanks

Lady72nRob71

Unfortunately, they are prolly all different problems.
Clock - Check for 12V and good ground behind it. If you have both, then clock will need rebuilding. Quartz innards are available for about 100 bucks or so.

Speedo needle bearings are prolly worn or gunked up with dried lube. It is all mechanical - it uses no power.
Take it apart and a apply couple tiny drops of WD40 to the bearings (apply with a toothpick.) Work the needle until it moves freely. If it is loose and sloppy, it willneed rebuilding or replacing.
Do NOT clean the dial face with a liquid or the numbers will smear! Dry clean cloth only to dust it.

Gas gauge - where is the needle? If past full, short the tan wire from the sender to ground. If the needle moves to E, then you need a new tank sender.

Try these to start with and let us know what happens.

Joffroi

My needle is wayyy past F, so I'll try that when I find a wire and let you know. Where is the tank sender unit by the way?

jaunty75

If the needle is way above F, that means you have an open circuit between the sending unit and the dash gauge. That could be due to a break in the wire between the two, a bad connection at the dash, or, worst case scenario, a bad sending unit, which will require removing the gas tank to get at.

But check the wiring thoroughly. Look behind the rear license plate and in that general area for the wire coming from the top of the gas tank. It's most likely yellow. This is the fuel gauge sending unit wire. It should connect to the wire coming from the gauge in this area, usually via a plastic connector. Find this connector and pull it apart. Then connect a wire from the dash gauge side of this connector to ground and turn the key to the on position. If the wiring is OK from the rear of the car to the dash gauge, the gauge will immediately move to Empty. If the needle doesn't move, you have a break in the wire between the rear of the car and the gauge.

If the rear-of-car-to-gauge wiring checks out OK, then it's likely the sending unit, but check the ground wire first. This will require getting under the car as this wire comes forward from the top of the gas tank and attaches to the body in the area just forward of the tank. It's possible that this wire is still connected, but decades of grime and moisture have corroded the connection. If you clean this up, and the gauge still doesn't work, you'll need to drop the tank to get at the sending unit.

Exactly what car do you have, anyway? All of the above applied to my '67 Delta 88, and I'm assuming that it's mostly true for cars of that vintage. If you've got something from much earlier or much later, things could be different. Also, depending on what car you have, a new sending unit might or might not be available. In my case, it was not, but one made to fit an early '70s full-size GM car, which CAN be bought new, fit just fine.

You're right. It's nice to know how much gas you have as you drive around. You don't realize how much you take that for granted until you don't have it.

Joffroi

@jaunty75 I have a 70 SX. I'll try to check out the wires

I did get my speedometer to "slightly" work. I took it apart, spun things around to move things around some and plugged back in. It works now, but just reads about 20 mph faster then I'm really going. I have a pretty awesome 0-60 right now.

66ninetyeightls

There are a few companies around me that rebuild and calibrate OEM speedos. I would check in your area to see if there are any companies that offer this service.