any way of changing the clust or bulb in the cluster, or easier to replace it?

 

Any 1992 or 1993 cluster would drop right in plug and play.
The bulb is just a twist and it will come out but the resister should keep it charging if the bulb is bad.
So my guess is an open trace on the flex printed circuit on the back of the cluster.

 

subford, i went ahead and found a 92 or 93 stick truck like mine but it has a tack and mine doesnt( and has a red film on the back as mine was tan). I got it all swapped in and everything works except for the alt gauge didnt move at all and mine stayed on the n part of normal for the most part untill you started using accesories. I am still not getting power on the green/red wire at the alt.
And i tested the little wire from the starter to fender solenoid and there isnt power there either. but on the other big terminal(battery side) there is constant power. would that starter wire be the root cause of it? It still starts if the battery doesnt get drained down.

 

You said pin #12 had power and pin #11 did not @C251. That can only be the cluster.

Try putting power on the light green wire with a red stripe at the alternator terminal "I" and see if it charges.
If it charges that way you will know that you have it wired right at the starter relay on the fender.

Are you sure on the year of the cluster you got from the salvage yard. Because a 1994 or newer cluster will do the same thing.

What are you using to check for power on the light green wire with a red stripe?
Do you have a good ground for your checking device?
Is all the wires at the starter relay on the large stud of the relay on the battery side with only one wire on the other large stud that goes to the starter?
You will also have the one small push on wire at the starter relay.

 

I did check again at the salt. And it still wasn't getting anything. The starter wires at the solenoid ate as you stated. I am using my test light connected to the negative side of battery each time. To check the cluster, I did it with the cluster removed. Is that the correct way?

 

Would a automatic truck's cluster work as mine is a stick? As that is all that's left at the local junk yard.

 

What is "salt" that you keep using?
Yes an automatic truck's cluster will work. Just use the blank out of your old cluster.
A loading test light may not work good in this circuit as you are putting two bulbs in series.
To check the voltage after the cluster you may need a Volt meter.

 

Did you? "Try putting power on the light green wire with a red stripe at the alternator terminal "I" and see if it charges."

 

well, i swapped out the replacement cluster from my other '93 truck and one from a '92 and the gauge moved up to the "n" part of normal, but it still isnt charging. any way of adding power strait from the battery to the alternator while its running to see if the gauge starts showing a charge?

 

That is what I posted in the post above.
Put a jumper from either the pos (+) post of the battery, "B+" on the alternator or the "A" on the alternator an the end to the "I" on the alternator.



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so hook a jumper wire from the positive side of battery to the b terminal(and ground it) and see what it does?

I do know that with the truck running and the battery charger hooked up it does charge. and if i unhook the brown connector from the cluster while running, the alt. gauge stops working. and the #11 and 12 terminals on it get no power. but i do get power On the #12(big red one) on the grey connector.

 

NO, that is not what I said.
The pos post of the battery and B terminal are the same place electrically if the fuse link is good. If you do what you said above you will have a dead short and fire will fly.

I was just giving you options to get the power from.
You have to make the "I terminal hot for it to charge.

 

on my alternator i have the external regulator plug and the other 3 wire plug. It doesn't have a b post.
I was just trying to clarify as i didnt want to melt/short anything.
I have tried add power from the battery strait to the i terminal with nothing happening also.

 

is it possible to add a jumper wire from the battery(positive) to the #11 green/red striped connector on the dash to see if it is maybe shorted? or go from the cluster to the alternator?

 

If it does not charge when you put power on the "I" then the problem is under the hood and not in the cluster.

Are you saying you have an external regulator?