Hi, I need advise on the following problem. I have the Rally gauge package in my 1971 Cutlass convertible and all has been working well until I replaced the steering column with a tilt steering column this past fall. My tac clock gauge works well and lights up but my left side gauge with the fuel, oil and temp gauge no longer lights up and the oil and temp needles peg to one side - the fuel needle seems to function fine. Does anyone have an idea? As always I appreciate the help I get from this site.

 

Check the grounding straps on the instrument panel.
There are flat metal straps going from gauge to gauge. There is also a grounding tab at the corners of the instrument panel. This is where the flat straps electrically connect to the body, via a screw and grounding tab.
In theory if one strap rusts, the ground from one of the two corners of the panel should provide a stable ground to the instruments.


If the one of the grounds is missing, open, rusted, etc, you may not get a reliable ground to the gauge set. Somewhere on this forum I have pictures of the panel and the ground tabs for a 71 CS. I had problems with intermittent dash lights and fuels gauge that all turned out to be a rust strap and a loose grounding corner tab.

In your system, the ground to the Tack Meter is OK.
The Ground is not connected to the gauges on the left.
Check the screw at the bottom left of the panel. It should past through 1 frame ground tab and 1 flat instrument grounding strap to the fuel gauge.

 

Okay I'll give it a look but my gauges were working just prior to the steering swap. My original guess was that I didn't connect something right after the swap that was causing the problem. I'll let you know tomorrow how I made out with your recommendation. Thank you.

 

You have a vert with console shifter. Swapping out the steering column should be a direct in/out without having to touch any of the dash gages. Did you remove any of them when doing this swap? That's where I'd start my search. If you removed the connector on the back of the rallye gage, there's a possibility the connector pins for the oil/temp/lights are not properly seated or may have come loose.

Does the brake and gen lights come on when you turn the key to 'run'?

If it is only a bad ground like Miles suggested? Try running a wire from the pod to a good ground and see if the gages work. If they do, there's the problem. Personally I don't like those ground straps on the dash. If the test wire makes the gages work I'd install it as a permanent fix. A fair number of electrical problems on these old cars can be traced back to grounds. Usually the symptoms of a gage 'pegging' or no lighting is an open circuit (if all things were working properly beforehand)

The factory ground for your gages will look similar to this from the back, yours will have an extra lead to the power top switch:
P1010114-2.jpg

 

I don't remember touching the gauges during or after the column swap but I've aged and I don't remember as well as I used to. Thanks for the additional info.

 

I also have that CRAFT affliction at times. IF you didn't touch the gages, very likely it's what Miles suggested - sometimes just the lack of use can create a bad ground (under the right conditions).

It's really easy to check. Undo the 4 screws that hold the upper dash reveal in place. That will expose the gage pods and you'll see where that bottom left ground strap is. With the car running, take a long wire and touch one end to the (bottom left) screw that normally is ground and the other end to nearest known good ground. Watch for
a) lighting
b) gage function

 

This site and its members are the best! I went out to my car and turned her over and threw on the lights and tried the jumper wire but it didn't work so I unscrewed the left pod and caught a flicker of light coming from the pod. I began to move the pod around and it stayed lit with the needles all looking good! I will try cleaning the contact areas tomorrow to make sure I have a good connections and ground. Thanks again for the information!

 

So glad to hear you resolved the problem. Pretty soon it'll be time to put her on the road and enjoy cruising.