What's up yall? Ok, i'm possitively sure this will be my last guage question. Maybe i have to get it through me that i'm pretty much going to have to put aftermarket guages in. Where and what brands do you all recomend? Where do you all put them? This truck has some aftermarket guages but there like at my feet. Another thing is that do they have square guages? I was looking and i might get away of it putting them where the original ones where. That's where i would like them to be. If not, than i guess i'll have to put them down around my feet of get out the welder b/c i'll probally have to do some customizeing. Some one help a old ga. boy out.

 

Like I have said b4, new clusters are cheap at the Boneyard. Fix the OEM's, they look better than aftermarket gages hanging around. You can pull the gages out and swap them from one cluster to another. The flex circuits can be changed out, or cleaned up and refurbished. Wiring can be repaired. If you have aftermarket gages the previous owner might have butchered the wiring. OEM wiring can be found and patched back in to fix any problems. You can get schematics for the OEM wiring. If you can install aftermarket gages you can fix the OEM's.

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With all due respect to T1 , I will tell you that 25 year old gauges will not tell you, in a timely manner, what is currently happening to your motor, i.e. especially oil pressure........I installed the autometer 2 5/8 inch , white face gauges , and left my old gauges installed and they(the factory) gauges remind me of a class of morons trying to Understand a lecture on Quantum Mechanics(not that I understand the theory either), but they just don't get it!!!The after market gauges are installed as<(water temp)--(oil press)>--gear shift--<(vacuum)--(voltage)>--- 2 pods of two mounted under the edge of the dash and bent upward which gives me a very good view of all their respective values----they are not cheap, but I wanted quality so I was willing to pay.....fd

 

Once you refurbish (clean up the wiring connections) the OEM gages work pretty well. They are all "thermal" movements so they do not respond quickly. The thermal movement gage will read slightly different depending on cab temperature also. I also like them because they are a nice "neat" installation with no exposed wiring or oil lines, and suffice for general troubleshooting. The OEM wiring is usually of a more "robust" nature than teeny little aftermarket wires. The problem with ANY gage is that you only check them occasionally. That is why I run a central "check engine" idiot light from standard idiot light senders also*. I do prefer a voltmeter to an ammeter but then again the ammeter is built into the OEM gage cluster. My wife's explorer has an OEM voltmeter which I like. If I want to do any real troubleshooting I bring out my digital temp probes and voltmeters, electrical load tester, pressure gages, etc. I have found that the aftermarket gages are really pretty inacurate (I have checked several brands) but they are good enough for a reference, which is all the OEM gages are for anyway.

*-I have only figured out how to do temp and oil pressure on Fords, I have done the charging system on other vehicles but I have not studied the Ford alternator-regulator idiot light enough yet. Maybe someday when I am not so busy answering general questions on FTE...

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run a 12v positive lead to the S terminal on the back of the alternator, or the choke heater wire. Run the wire from the accy. fuse, to a bulb, and to the alt. It will glow when the alt. is not charging.

Jared

 

jbearford,

I've installed the AutoMeter 2-5/8" Water Temp, 2-5/8" Voltmeter, 2-1/16" Oil Pressure, 2-5/8" Vacuum and AutoGage 3-3/4" Tachometer. I had my mechanic install the water temp and oil pressure, as these are critical connections for my gauges. I installed all of these on the column (via the AutoMeter mounting cups), just shy of the turn signal switch, with a 4-5/8" (I think) hose clamp.

To make the wiring indistinguishable from the black column, I tried to find some black thin-walled tubing to slip over the wires. Since I could not find anyone who carried this stuff stock, I went to Home Depot and bought a few feet of 3-12 gauge electrical wire.

I then striped the wire (save for later) and cleaned the residue (paper filler) from the inside of the sheath. (What I would do next time is solder the connections that will slip inside the sheath. I used electrical conenctions and it made for a tight fit.) Since I have 5 gauges I had to modify my original gauge wiring (not OEM, but original). Instead of using only one lead to the fuse panel (for gauge illumination), I fabricated a two-into-one lead. This allows me to tie two leads for gauge illumination into one prong on the fuse panel. I probably could have made a 3-into-1 or 4-into-1 lead, but two works for me. Bear in mind that I'm using 12/14 gauge wire for these gauges, which is overkill. For the ground connections (just completed this weekend as I had an individual ground for each gauge), I used the 4-into-1 lead (each wire is either 12/14 gauge) and attached the eyelets to the bottom screw on the fuse panel.

I know that this is a lot of work, but I feel more secure with mechanical and direct electrical gauges (plus it offers redundancy and a comparison with the stock gauges). The gauge that I think all 73-79 owners should have is a tachometer. Any gauge beyond that is up to the individual. Whether you decide to install any gauge(s), purchase the Automotive Electrical Handbook, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2WIM95JUYD&isbn=0895862387 This is an excellent source for installing/modifying an automobiles electrical system. I hope this helps.

Chris
78 F150 4x4-400-NP435-NP205-D44(4.56)-Ford 9"(4.56LSD)-32" BFG's