dummy guage changeover date?
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Postmaster
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From: Harrisburg, NE
dummy guage changeover date?
working on an 86 f150 w/5.0. oil pressure gauge was reading low, mechanical gauge said it was fine (50psi). grounded the sender wire and the gauge pegged. so installed a new sensor and didn't get a change.
I thought it was in 87 that they supposedly went to a dummy gauge with a pressure switch. (however my 88 had a switch put in it and it just pegs the gauge).
this truck has the larger sending unit, I put a napa op6091 into it.
anybody have any insight?
I thought it was in 87 that they supposedly went to a dummy gauge with a pressure switch. (however my 88 had a switch put in it and it just pegs the gauge).
this truck has the larger sending unit, I put a napa op6091 into it.
anybody have any insight?
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From: Virginia
You can take the sending unit wire, and with the key in run, touch the wire to ground and then take the wire off ground, this should make your gauge swing full scale low and high.
You have the large sending unit, so you have the "real" guage.
If your gauge is reading low after all this, maybe you have low pressure. Who knows? Why does anyone spend any time or money getting the original gauges to work, they tell you nothing.
My 89 has the "fake" gauge. I don't care. I put a set of real gauges under the dash for it.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Northeast, OK
What he said - x2. But, for testing, ground the case of the sending unit with a wire to a known ground and see if that causes the gauge's reading to increase. If so, you have too much sealer/tape on the threads.
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Postmaster
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From: Harrisburg, NE
Make sure you do not put hardly any type of sealer on the threads. It needs to ground through the threads into the block to operate properly.
You can take the sending unit wire, and with the key in run, touch the wire to ground and then take the wire off ground, this should make your gauge swing full scale low and high.
You have the large sending unit, so you have the "real" guage.
If your gauge is reading low after all this, maybe you have low pressure. Who knows? Why does anyone spend any time or money getting the original gauges to work, they tell you nothing.
My 89 has the "fake" gauge. I don't care. I put a set of real gauges under the dash for it.
You can take the sending unit wire, and with the key in run, touch the wire to ground and then take the wire off ground, this should make your gauge swing full scale low and high.
You have the large sending unit, so you have the "real" guage.
If your gauge is reading low after all this, maybe you have low pressure. Who knows? Why does anyone spend any time or money getting the original gauges to work, they tell you nothing.
My 89 has the "fake" gauge. I don't care. I put a set of real gauges under the dash for it.
he bought the truck to give to his dad, who bought it new. and roped me into doing the work.I touched the wire to ground and got the gauge to do the "full swing", I also tested the pressure with a mechanical gauge, got 50psi, so its not like it doesn't have the pressure.
didn't think about the thread sealer, it came with the sealer already on the threads, so I will try grounding the sender case like gary said.
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Postmaster
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From: Harrisburg, NE
grounding the sending unit didn't do anything. guage is hovering between the line and the N, but i also noticed that it doesn't change with rpms, and chance its a dummy guage that somebody put a sending unit on?
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FTE Legend
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From: Northeast, OK
Next question. Does the temp gauge and fuel gauge work? The three are run by the same "voltage regulator" that is notorious for going wonky. So if the other two anernt reading right it may be the ICVR.
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Postmaster
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From: Harrisburg, NE
I tore the dash apart and hooked my fluke up to the regulator. it looks to be fluctuating from 0 to around 8.5 rather than staying constant, on its power side its doing the same, but from nine up to battery voltage. i can't get a straight reading. any chance this might be the problem? only thing i'm wondering is that if it is, shouldn't it affect the other gauges as well?
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From: Northeast, OK
Lol! Remember me putting "voltage regulator" in quotes?? That's because calling the ICVR a voltage regulator is like calling a Pinto a sports car. Not even close. Go read this link. That'll tell you what you are dealing with.
But, if the temp gauge is working right it isn't the ICVR since it serves that plus the fuel and oil pressure gauges.
But, if the temp gauge is working right it isn't the ICVR since it serves that plus the fuel and oil pressure gauges.
