I have a 81 f100,stepside,with a six,wanto know if any guage cluster from same era will work,I would like to have a tripometer,possible a tach,does the donor have to have the same engine,thanks for the help,Lee

 

Yes, any year 80-86 will work, the trip odometers are only availabel with the factory tach. will be a "bolt" in swap, 6 or 8 cylinder, either will work.

you have a PM.

Diesel Rod

 

Thanks for asking that question I have the 1980 F100, and the entire dash is gon, along with gauge cluster. Only thing that works it the fuel gage.

 

Does any company make new dash assemblies, and clusters for the 80-96 F series?

 

Lmc truck does, they arn't cheap though.

 

The salvage yards can offer hundreds. I got one four years ago for 80 bucks and was able to choose the best of twelve.

 

They are easy to switch, just be careful unhooking the speedo....

 

Don't know if it's correct but I was told by a mechanic at a local shop/salvage yard that the '80 & '81 panels are slightly different from the '82 & up. Something about the turn indicators. He also said that if I was upgrading from an idiot light panel to a full gauge panel there was additional wiring that had to be installed for the ammeter and possibly the oil pressure circuits. Fortunately I found a delux panel (trip odometer and tach) at a good price on Ebay and it was "plug and play" on my '83.

 

That would be sweet. I am not sure what the last idiot did but all my gauges are crap except for the fuel gauge. Not sure how you would ever do that, but he did. I would really like to have a speedo, and at least a temp gauge, because my radiator seems kinda small, and it has a dinky fan on the front with no clutch or anything. But I bought it from a used mexican car lot. What can a person expect?

 

It may not have been the p/o's fault at all. The gauges in these trucks are a known issue. I have a gas gauge that only works part of the time, the temp gauge shows hot when my mechanical temp gauge shows just barely warming up, etc.

There are a few things you can check. One major one is the ground running from the back of the engine block to the body. Be sure it has a good clean connection, and that the wire isn't all corroded.

Secondly, there is a voltage regulator on the back of the instrument cluster that is relatively easy to change, and they do go bad and will cause your gauges to go 7 ways to crazy.

My own preference is installing aftermarket gauges as they are generally more accurate.

 

I know the 80 is definitely different than the 82 to 86 clusters. Not sure about 81. I have an extra 80 cluster that I bought before I knew that they were different when adding a tach and tripometer to my 86. Everything will work but the brake light and turn signal are reversed on the 80 vs the later models.


Check your Haynes wiring diagram to see if your 81 matches the 80 or the 82 and up.

A new cluster will cost you hundreds of dollars but you can get them on Ebay for anywhere from $30 to 50 or so. I have about 3 of them as I mixed and matched gauges until I had a combo that was accurate for my sensors. They all work, but each sensor is slightly different and finding a gauge that marries up well so that the temp is in mid range and not showing too cool or too warm, gas gauges showing actual full and empty etc can take a few swap outs. I found that one of my clusters worked perfect on my friend's truck but read off slightly on mine. The one that works best on my truck reads off on his etc.

Anyway, Just wanted to chime in and make sure you knew to get the right cluster for your truck and that there was a difference between the 80 and later ones.

Good luck,

Lee

 

Ratfink,
If your fuel gauge is ok then the instrument voltage regulator is ok since the oil, fuel and temperature gauges all work off it. Here is a quick way to check the gauges and gauge wiring: 1. Go to radio Shack or some electronics supply and buy a 10 Ohm 5 Watt resistor. 2. Remove the wire to the temperature sending unit . 3. Install one end of the resistor to the wire and the other end of the resistor to engine ground (a pair of alligator clip leads works great). 4. Turn on ignition switch to "run" position; Temp gauge should read "hot", if it does, gauge and wiring is ok and sending unit is bad. 5. Repeat for oil pressure gauge circuit; oil gauge should read at "high" end. 6. If gauges don't respond properly to this test, then you have a wiring or gauge problem. 7. Ammeter circuit is separate from the other gauges and with a good battery and regulator you probably will see very little needle deflection.

 

I don't think the cluster itself is differant from 80-82 and 82+ but the black(or wood grain) seround is differant. The part that houses the idiot lights and dirrectionals across the top. I had to replace mine and took a soldering iron melted the plastic nubs that held on the colored sheets and physicaly moved the dirrectionals to the correct spots. I believe the directionals are one light closer on the earlier models. Basicly 3 in from the outside on earlier and 2 in from outside on later. I think thats what I remember.

 

RR4E is right about the voltage regulator for the gauges, but it will affect all gauges if it is bad. You said your gas gauge is OK. Right? I would guess it to be unlikely that you would have all your other gauges fail, so before you trash them all, I would do some testing of the wiring and the sensors. Of course your Speedo is mechanical, so if your speedo cable is turning when you drive, and you are positive that it is all the way into the speedo head then the speedo has failed. If that is the case, it is just as well to change the cluster.

I would look for broken or disconnected wires, and maybe failed senders before condemming the whole gauge cluster. Percentage are that's where you will find your difficulty. It's such a drag to change something and find that was not your problem and it doesn't cost you anything to check first.

 

The temp sender is inexpensive. Around $7. Mine was bad when I got the truck. Replaced it and found out that the water pump impeller was almost rotted off. Truck liked to overheat. OK now.

Oil sender is under $20 for the gauge version.

Take the wire off the top of your temp sender and ground it to the engine. If the gauge goes to H, there's your problem.

Same for the oil pressure sender.