Access gauge cluster ground with dash in?

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coupe74

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Santa Rosa, Sonoma wine country USA
1) Is there any way to access the gauge instrument cluster ground, or fuel gauge ground, to add another ground without pulling the dash? I have no speaker cover to fish through as it was covered up by PO. 1974 CS FYI.

The purpose is to try to fix an erratic fuel gauge and signal indicator lights.

I can't find this in a forum search, so maybe because the answer is "no"?

2) Alternatively, would disconnecting the tank sender-unit keep the gauge from beating itself to death in the interim? Since the gauge is not working anyway, usually.

3) In case of "no" to #1 and "yes" to #2; has anyone tried making a fuel dipstick to use through the filler pipe? If so, what did you use for the dipstick? (I do this on my 1956 International Harvester pickup with a wooden stick marked in 5 gallon increments. If you think coupe parts are hard to find, try owning an old IH!)

Thanks.
 
# 1 - When I overhauled the wiring as part of the EFI conversion, I took the front seat out, threw some cushions in and lay down with my head in the pedals. You can get at just about everything that way. You do have to remove the three interior trim panels first if you have't tossed them already.

#2 - Yes.

# 3 - Remember to zero the trip meter each and every time you fill up. When it gets to 240 miles - find a gas station. At 260mi start walking. First time you forget will remind you to fix the fuel gauge.

Doug
 
Yes. Just run a new ground preferably 14 ga ( brown if you can find it) as recommended by VDO. You can just tie it into the holding frame using the nut which is accessed from the fuse cover panel.

Here's the VDO trouble shooting guide- just use an ohm meter to check your guage-http://www.gilmoredist.com/howto_guides/instruction_sheets/VDO_Sheets/TroubleshootingGuide.pdf
 
coupe74 said:
1) Is there any way to access the gauge instrument cluster ground, or fuel gauge ground, to add another ground without pulling the dash?
Click to expand...

As others have written, "yes" - the fuel/temp gauge is the easy one to access. Try getting at the clock sometime!

But, are you sure that a bad ground is your problem? Does the temp gauge and gauge lights work OK? If so, ground isn't the cause for the gas gauge dancing around - it's probably the sender.

Alternatively, would disconnecting the tank sender-unit keep the gauge from beating itself to death in the interim?
Click to expand...

Yes, it probably would - as I wrote above, an intermittant contact in the sending is most likely the cause of your problem. Note that there are two wires to the sending unit on top of the tank - one for the gauge, and one for the "low fuel" warning light. If the light works OK, you could just disconnect the gauge, and the light would tell you when to re-fill the tank.
 
decoupe said:
# 1 - When I overhauled the wiring as part of the EFI conversion, I took the front seat out, threw some cushions in and lay down with my head in the pedals. You can get at just about everything that way. You do have to remove the three interior trim panels first if you have't tossed them already.

Doug
Click to expand...

PSA: Don't forget to wear your safety glasses while laying on your back, looking up when rummaging around under a 40 year old dash board. DAMHIK
 
On 74 USA models gauges can only be accessed by removing retaining nuts and gently sliding whole mess forward,might also have to loosen speedo and tach cables.There is an extra metal brace behind dash that earlier models don't have.
 
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