This is on my '88 F150, 4.9, M5OD

The temperature gauge, and volt gauge, do not work at all. The alternator is charging the truck, I know that for sure, but I do not know the voltage off the top of my head. These two gauges read zero at all times.

My fuel gauge bounces around a lot, like from 1/4 tank to full, and does so pretty inconsistently. It does the exact same thing no matter which tank I have selected.

The Speedometer, Odometer, Tachometer, and oil pressure gauge work as they should.

I know the truck isn't overheating, but it would be nice to have properly working gauges. I don't have a problem soldering on the cluster if it comes to it. Just wondering if anybody has any experience with this, or knows what to look at first.

Here's the cluster I have:

 

Consider going aftermarket w / digital gauges. They are so much better than stock. I put three of them where the radio went. Had someone cut a piece of 1/4 " aluminum with 2" I.D. holes. I got Cyberdyne gauges from Summit. Three fit horizontally in a row in that old radio space. Those gauges were 2" around.

 

sounds like a bad ground in cluster...

 

I suppose I'll have to pull it out and see if there's anything going on. I know I've seen the coolant temp gauge not working on many of these ford trucks, so I'm wondering if it is the gauge. Maybe I'll test the sender too.

Aftermarket gauges wouldn't really be an option either, since I think they look tacky in an otherwise stock truck. Plus I like that the mileage is correct for my registration.

 

I don't like dash work but at least you'll have a nice place to sit.

Checking grounds is always good. Gives a chance to see if the mice have been at work somewhere too.

I wonder if you could get lucky and have it be a dirty fuse or easy to find connector.

Been noticing that some areas of the country have common problems.

Vehicles in the north rust from the bottom up and in Florida, they rust from the top down and some grounds I've seen are self tapping screws into sheet metal.

I just bought some star washers to help bite and grip some of my grounds, and they seem to be all over the place and not really listed clearly on wire diagrams or in the manuals.

Good luck and just be glad it's not one of those newer trucks that list 12 hrs to change a heater core or dash removal.

 

I just went thru the same thing on my Bronco the voltmeter and water temp didn't register I had a good gage cluster left from my old f-350 the Voltmeter and Water temp gauge can be removed without replacing the rest of the cluster just pull the bottom covers and the upper bezel. Then you can remove the lense and bezel and then you can pull the guage panel that is defective. They are layered in there the volt/water temp is the first to come out. The fuel gauge is probly bouncing because the sender is going bad and it can be replaced.

 

I had some similar issues on my '92 F350. In the process of removing the gauge cluster I found one of the rear connectors loose to the point it was ready to fall off. A simple push, click and all is good again.

 

Oh I forgot to add my sender was faulty also, but the volt meter was completely shot and stuck at 8. Hope you get-ter fixed.

 

Hmm, that would be nice if it was just the gauges. There are a couple of these dashes at the nearby junkyard, maybe I can grab the gauges.

I was thinking the fuel sender was bad too, but didn't think they'd both be bad in exactly the same fashion. I have the two tanks by the way. I guess I'll look at the fuel gauge too while its out, but it's definitly not dead like my temp and volt gauges, so it probably won't get replaced.

 

Check the sender for the temp first it's ohm reading from the pin to the intake manifold should change as the engine warms up i can't rember the actual ohm reading to tell you you might beable to snag one from the junk yard to i got my sender off the old manifold from my 1 ton. I think of it as being able to drive both of my favorites at the same time.lol

 

Ok, so I finally resolved this issue. I took the cluster apart, and found the voltage gauge had somewhat of a "dead spot" in it. Turned out the black part that stops the needle from swinging all the way around was hitting the black background of the gauges. Somehow, the background was applied off-center, causing a spot where the needle would stop and not be able to move under it's own power. I pulled off the needles, and cut it open a little with a razor blade. My gauges work now.

I finally got to tackle this after a bunch of other problems sprung up. My fuel gauge problem was a sender problem as well, which was fixed when replacing the sending unit in the tank, which I still have to do for the back tank. Just thought I'd follow up.