On the up note, my Pick & Pull cluster with factory tach was plug and play; tach fired right up on first try without having to change any wiring.

However, this "new" cluster reads even higher than the old one, specifically the temp and oil pressure gauges. Now they're just to the right of the last hash mark before the H. Before they were to the left of that hash mark, effectively putting the needle on the high side of "normal".

Is there anything that can be done about this? I suspect that little metal box on the back of the cluster has something to do with it, can this be replaced?

The fuel gauge has always been a little schizo, seems to work until you get down to half, but after that it's anyone's guess. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Take the sending unit wires off and ground their wires and then unground their wires and see if the guage goes full scale up and down. If it does, I would suspect a grounding problem or a sending unit problem. Make sure you have a ground strap from one of the bellhousing bolts to the firewall.

 

Tis might help on the ICVR:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ervations.html

 

That was good reading, but quite endless.

Can someone give me the cliff notes? What I need to buy, and where I wire it? I can probably figure it out if I follow the traces on the PC board, but maybe someone has a nice handy writeup or something?

 

Similar issue here with gauges reading high. I tried getting a new one but it worked worse than the old one. Gauges all over the place.

I think I'll try building one. Here's the step by step. I just ordered the part directly from Dimension Engineering but it hasn't come in yet... we'll see how it goes.

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Gary Lewis's Album: How To Build an ICVR Replacement

 

The Instrument Cluster Voltage Regulator regulates 12 volts to ~5.5 volts, so even at idle with high electrical load [A/C, headlights, etc], the gauge readings will remain stable even as the available voltage drops. The ICVR regulates the voltage feeding the fuel gauge, temperature gauge and oil pressure gauge. It does not affect the ammeter.

When the ICVR begins to fail, often times, one will notice either very low or high reading of all three affected gauges.