LT Texan

My trip odometer doesn't work consistently (didn't reset to 0's, kind of spun a bit), so I figured I needed to buy one of those $30 gears.

So I did.

But when I got my cluster apart and looked at my odometer gears, all looked fine. Nothing was broken.

Pulled the "reset piston" and magically reset to 0's.

So put a tiny bit of white grease on the piston and put it back together.

Did lots of cleaning while I had the film off (which I installed about 10 years ago) and some polishing and refinishing.

Pictures below, but now I have two problems - low oil level warning is flashing like crazy and volts show 10!

This is probably my third time to take this apart. So not my first rodeo!

And, by the way, I have never had a resistor on the back of the film like you see some people write about.

Well, here's the good....

Back of cluster as it came out with everything working (I know, leave well enough alone!)



I used a razor knife to break/cut the glue to get the plastic lens off because the inside looked like this!



The years have not been kind to my plastic lens.



Light wet sand with 600 grid and a thin coat of flat black make a big difference.



I can recommend the Turtle Wax Lens restorer.



I used a fine bead of black silicone glue.



Taped it up and let it cure for an hour.



Non-reflective angle shows this really worked great!



Here's a pic in the car a bit blurry due to no flash.



Really happy with this.

But did my oil level warning decide to go on the fritz at this same time? Yes my oil level is not low.

And weird behavior of the voltage gauge not registering above 10v.

I did remove, check clean replace to no joy.

Any ideas very welcomed!

LT Texan

And don't the '78's have the best instrument clusters!!!

LT Texan

The alt light does not come on under any condition (that is a condition caused by the car).

Oil pressure great as usual.

I removed and cleaned the 12 wires on the right side connector.

LT Texan

The oil level warning light flashes. I did not read my owner's manual to check if it is supposed to flash.

LT Texan

I think my oil level gauge is operating just fine.

It only comes on after the engine is running for a few seconds, and it seems the warning is disabled after the volts exceed 12 and the engine is assumed running - oil level drops with a running engine.

So, I think I've blown up my charging system.

The owner's manual says that the ALT light should go on with the ignition on and turn off as RPMs rise and the alternator charges.

The light never comes on.

So I need to start there, first with looking for a short on the light in the instrument cluster.

Bill Ball

Or the ALT bulb itself.

LT Texan

Thanks Bill. I checked the bults for continuity, but did not replace them.

Will be doing some carefully checking / replacing this evening after work.

Dan

LT Texan

Bad connection on the ALT lamp socket. The contact had been flattened and not touching the copper film.

All better now.