In a message dated 8/19/99 4:51:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
DShoop7572@aol.com writes:
> 1. I have all lights working exterior but only have the high beam indicator
> working on any of my gauges. My Haynes manual shows trouble shooting but
not
> for gauge lighting, at least I can't find it. I have no idea where the
> reostat is if there is one.
DS,
Since all of your exterior lights are working, you know the switch is good,
you're getting power to the fuse, and the fuse is good. That only leaves the
red wire from the fuse to the rheostat, the rheostat, and the red/white wires
from the rheostat to the gauge lights. I can't tell you where the rheostat
is, but once you find it, I can give you clues for testing.
Find the red wire at the rheostat, and look for voltage on it. If you don't
have voltage, the wire is broken or there is a bad connection between here
and the fuse. This red wire comes directly from the fuse. If you do have
voltage, check the red/white wires on the rheostat for voltage as you turn
the rheostat. The voltage should vary smoothly from 12 to near zero as you
turn it. If you get a smoothly varying voltage, the red/white wires from here
to the gauges lights are the problem. If you don't, the rheostat is the
problem (which I suspect it is).
If the rheostat is bad, just jumper the red wires to the red/white wires, and
bypass the rheostat.
> 2. My fuel guage registers 1/4 when tank is full . The manual shows
trouble
> shooting for no reading or always full reading.
The tank sender consists of a float, a lever arm, a wiper arm, and a piece of
plastic with resistance wire wound around it. As the float moves up and down,
the lever arm moves the wiper arm over the resistance wire, causing the
resistance of the winding to ground to vary. The resistance of a full tank is
less than the resistance of an empty tank.
Perhaps your float is partially filled with gas and not rising with the fuel
level. Or, you could have a mechanical problem with the wiper arm/lever arm
assembly, such that the arm won't allow the wiper arm to move as it should. I
recommend taking the ender out of the tank and checking the float. If this
isn't the problem, take the sender apart for examination. Once you get it a
apart, it'll be obvious what needs to be done to fix it. Taking it apart and
reassembling it is not at all difficult, nor is there a great deal of danger
of destroying it if you exercise caution.
If it turns out to be the resistance wire that is the problem, it will be a
bit more difficult to repair, but the only real problem here will be finding
the correct wire for replacement. I don't know of a source, but perhaps
someone on the list will.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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