Im having an issue with my fuel gauge and oil pressure gauge, also left side, side with these 2 gauges doesn't light up.

This is everything I've tried and results.

grounded to fuel sender unit, tested to see if any movement in gauge. result = no gauge movement

grounded to chassis, tested for movement in gauge. result = no movement

tested IPVR, power indicator bulb lit up.

tested back of all gauges from behind instrument panel, ammeter = bright bulb, other gauge = half lit/dimmer bulb

tested fuse panel = all fuses lit up when key in ON position, except fuse 2, 3A-1AG fuse installed. no power.

interior dome light = no power, light tester did not power up.

I have a 1996 Ford Ranger fuse box that I want to upgrade to, whats the pros take on this? I can do a pretty good solder/heat shrink electrical job, but I dont want to cut out th eone in my 1977 and its not compatible or doesnt work and cause me more issues.

Thanks is advance.

 

Pros:
More fuses and relays.
Cons: you have no real need. Fab mounting and wire it all up.

I would follow wires and test resistance, the electric oil pressure gives ground through a resistor, so if no power it doesn't work. I would keep your fuse panel but pop it off and follow your wires and see if any are burnt, broken, or just disconnected. Its a long process but it is better to do a thorough job then just hacking and slashing new wires.

 

Im going to sand and add dialectic grease to the connections, if that doesnt work I plan to trace the wires from fuse box and fix any issues with solder/shrink tube.

 

How confident are you that you're seeking a proper ground? After 30+ years of surface rust and grime, you're not likely to get a good ground anywhere along the frame surface.

Can you clarify how this was tested? Where did you check for power? What is a "power indicator bulb" - a test light I'm assuming? Did it stay on, or pulse? The proper result is for the light to blink approximately once per second. It should not stay on.

The ammeter is not tied to the rest of the gauges; it is separate.

In many cases, the dash instrumentation does not go through the fuse panel.

Is this a separate issue you're trying to troubleshoot?

This is a heavy-duty job with little return on investment in my opinion.

 

ok so I went back and paid more attention to the quality of ground for test light, I found a bolt that was still shiny and hooked up to it, then tested the plug harness and the tester pulsated and the gauge moved slowly to the right or full position.

I pulled the gauge from fuel gauge from cluster and the bracket that holds the screw straight was broken causing the nut to spin with bolt. I had to cut it off. Im guessing I'll need to find one at the junk yard. Im going to try and fix it first though.

I added the dome light and fuse panel info in case it was connected somehow.

I must be missing something on the amount of work needed to swap out a fuse panel, seems like I could easily matchup like connections and use the extra circuits for other electrical upgrades later. also be able to use the blade fuses vs the glass ones.

 

This is proper behavior. It says both your ICVR and fuel gauge are (were) good. This says your original problem was the sending unit or the ground out at the sending unit.

There went the fuel gauge (there actually wasn't any need to pull it since the test you described above was fine, but now you know for next time). The plastic bracket you're talking about is usually pretty brittle with age, so the situation you ran into is common. The screw is spinning because the plastic bracket no longer grabs the "teeth" of the screw head on the inside. The nut can be removed by holding the screw steady with a pair of pliers (again, more knowledge for next time). Note that the other side of that screw that is spinning is soldered to very, very fine mag wire, so you'd need to actually open the fuel gauge up to repair that connection, which now would have been twisted and possibly damaged. Because of the delicacy of the fuel gauge and how easily its calibration is thrown off, I'd just try and find a new one.

Not related. Does the dome light at least turn on with the headlight switch?

More power to you then; go for it. I'm saying I don't think it's worth the trouble. I personally don't see much advantage in upgrading a fuse panel, because the fuse panel is something you never have to touch if everything is worked on properly (that's why I don't mind glass fuses). There are also much easier, faster, and practical ways to provide space for upgrades using a secondary fuse block and tapping into the truck's existing feeds. Not to mention some of the bus wiring going into the back of the panel can be on the order of 10 gauge; considering the angles and tight space of some of the wiring back there, that can be a tough joint to make. It's your truck though.

 

thank you FMC400, you are the man!

So I found an entire replacement dash out of a 75 Econoline, had red circuit board, looked exactly like mine, except it has a silver/gunmetal color instead of black in front of the gauges, looks pretty nice, I installed it and the only issue I see is the turn signals dont work like they did before.

Also the Oil pressure gauge still doesnt work, but Id like to get more gas in it to assess the fuel gauge, I was told by PO it didnt work, I looked and saw the oil gauge didnt work and I assumed it was broken, what if its not?? Id def learn not to take someones word for it, hahaha no big deal I learned alot with this.

Also oil gauge may not work because PO messed around with alot of the electrical, nothing major, but enough that I have to figure out a few things here and there. looks like he may have installed an aftermarket oil gauge and water temp gauge, maybe he messed up the lines for the oil pressure and ran it to the aftermarket gauge, Ill check this week.

FMC400, no, for some reason the interior dome doesnt work anymore, I had it working, cleaned up all the connectors, it was fine, but now it doesn't. does that have any relation to not getting power from position2 in the fuse panel?

 

Im definitely going to take your advice here, I dont want to open up a can of worms.

I do have projects I'd like to do that are higher on the priority list.

 

That could be burnt out bulbs, or the cluster not making contact somewhere (cluster connector or bulb carriages). The old-style clusters are made out of a composite material that breaks down and cause the bulbs to lose contact. That's what happened on my high-beam indicator (I had to switch to an aftermarket plastic panel).

It could be a bad sending unit out at the block, or the wiring in between. The former is more likely. You can verify actual oil pressure with an aftermarket gauge.

Not sure what "position 2" is - what's the label? The dome light is part of the courtesy lamp circuit.

 

I'll clean up the connections asap. hoping that works, if not Ill let you know where it takes me.

The aftermarket gauge installed appears to read 80PSU consistently, I plan to trace the wires from the dash for the oil gauge and see where it takes me. Im betting it was disconnected.

The label for fuse 2 is Instr. Panel & Cluster lamps, Ash Tray, Trans Ind Lamps, Radio, Heater, AC Headlamp, and W/S Wiper Illumination

 

I feel your pain, been tryin to get my gas gauge workin for quite a while. Got a new tank, new sendin unit, new ground wire to a freshly cleaned spot on frame and the gauge worked for one night, got in thenext day and it hangs below E where it is at now. Everytime I pull the cluster in and out somethin doesn't work that did work before, at the moment it's the turn signal lights. Gonna take it out in a bit, try to put somethin behindthe circuit paper where the harness plug goes to help make a better contact and try to dothe same with all the twist in bulb connectors, bout ready to lose my mind over this seeminly simple thing