hacker-pschorr

This is my 87

Pod is out, I'm cleaning all the contacts per Dwayne and Stan's teachings.

Everything works on the cluster, except the temp gauge. It sits at "zero" same as when the car is off until I give the side of the pod a good whack, then it reads perfect for a few miles, then back down to zero.

Is there a way to bench test the gauge itself? Is it a 0-5V signal coming in or something?

Mrmerlin

take the nut off the black pin connector on the rear of the gauge holder after you have separated the gauges from the pod housing, use some needle nose pliers to pull it free
put some deoxit into the pins and any other connections you see.

NOTE since the gauge is working it means you have a good signal to the pod,


BUT you can also service the 14 pin at the hot post under the hood, this will enhance the signal same goes for the sender connections
put a rag down on the steering column and set the gauges on them with them connected then start the engine see if they gauge moves when the key is turned on.

NOTE its also possible that the internal stop of the gauge is sticking on its stop I like to spray deoxit 5 into the unit and move it around to let the solvent touch everything.
a very lite touch on the needle will let you know if this is so

hacker-pschorr

Appreciate that Stan, I'd still like to bench test it versus spraying in some sauce, putting it all back together and hope it works.

Mrmerlin

Eric bench test is on the steering column with the gauges plugged in and sitting on a towel.
they will sit there pretty drama free,
just remove the steering wheel first,
the pod cover will rest on your legs, all of the pod switches will also be undisturbed and stay connected.

This is the easiest way to test the gauges before putting them back into the glass housing,
NOTE also check the dash lamps potentiometer for corrosion Deox100 goes on it.

FWIW my 1985 Swiss car had this issue with the fuel gauge and the temp gauge,
I put the spray into both of the units it took a lil while of daily use for them to start working,
they might have been sitting for too long not being used

hacker-pschorr

I'd like to "actually" bench test the gauges, temp gauge is random / intermittent. Testing it in the car would require warming up the engine and driving around.

I'm fully aware I can connect them all back up and start the car & see what happens.

Let's pretend I don't have a car, but I have a dozen of these gauges and I'd like to test them.

Mrmerlin

Ahh now I underSTANd.

FWIW the gauges dont need the engine running to show they are working, IE coming off the stops.
turn the key to run and all of the needles should come up a few MM from the rest position.
Thats all I got no tricks to power the individual parts