My '89 E350 instrument cluster guages flucuate intermittently. Does anyone know where the instrument cluster voltage regulator is located? Is it attatched to the back of the cluster module or elsewhere.(sorry for the poor spelling). My tilt wheel was modified so that it can no longer tilt, I can no longer lift out the instrument panel. When I lubed the speedo cable, I almost lost my relegion. If it can be replaced with out removing the panel, I won't have to have the steering knuckle messed with. Any help will be greatly appreceiated.

 

The IVR is mounted on the back of the instrament cluster. I don't know amy way to change it except to remove the cluster.

 

OK, thanks.. I guess I'm going to learn how to take my tilt steering wheel apart.

 

sorry for not getting back 2 u. its connected to the dash in the rear.
near driverside of the speedo cable abit lower then the cable conn.

to take the dash out you have to reach in and squeeze the cable like a childproof bottle, then pull. id guess if you can get your hand in there for that you might be able to get the ivr without pulling the cable.

its a 2-3 inch sqaurish box connected to its base with "radio cons" like a 9volt batt.
i think u just pry the top and replace just that.

it's kinda like a layer cake that you'll split apart. hope that makes sense. good luck

 

Master Racinrob,
It is Saturday afternoon. I ordered a new instrument cluster voltage regulator from Rock Auto, received it yesterday and installed it just now. The good news is that I got it installed, the bad news is that my instruments (gas and Oil guage anyway) are acting worse. Before my guages (gas, temp and oil pressure) would flucatuate intermittentally from right to almost right. Now they are just plain wrong. I have both tanks full but the the guage reads just over 1/2. I don't know about temp yet, but the oil pressure guage reads at the bottom of normal. I know the fuel sending units are good (new) so the problem is somewhere else. Any ideas?

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, if it wasn't the ivr a new one should have given u the same results right???????? my oil reads just above the o in "normal" when starting then lowers to between n and o when warm. since the other gages seem to not be erratic at the moment the only thing i can think is... was it a motorcraft part?........

the ivr is the same whether u have dual tanks or not. the ground for the fuel senders is a black wire connected to a clip with 2 or 3 the other wires under the dash, to the left of the steering colum on something known as the "y" brace. its always a bit loose and might have some electric grease on it, see if it's very loose and needs tightening.

i have an electical manual from ford for my 87 it has some other troubleshooting steps
if u have a tester... but when multiple gauges are erratic it's usually the ivr.

let me know if its a motorcraft ivr. if u have the part number i can check it with a friend that works at ford.

good luck. glad the cluster came off for u.

 

After driving to work and back, I find that all the guages read less than before, except the voltage which has always sat just on the positive side of center, however when I installed the new IVR, it did regester a higher charge rate for a few seconds, then dropped back to center+.

The new IVR is not motorcraft, it's Standard... I have a used IVR I picked up from the U-Pull-it. I'll try one to see if it is any different later today. While I'm in there I'll take a look at the "Y" brace connection.

 

Master Racinrob,

I just got finished re-reinstalling the IVR, The old one and the one from U-Pull-it read the temp and fuel the same, which I believe is correct. Wether the U-P-it will flucatuate is yet to be seen. I am leaveing it in for the time being. The new Standard IRV is obviously not accurate.

The ground at the "Y" was solid, so I did not mess with it. Everything else looked fine.(as fine as I could tell).

I'm going to try to return the IRV I got from Rock Auto. I'm wondering if I should try to improve the guages or just live with the approx accuracy. What would you do?

 

kewl., the unmotorcraft part seemed wrong. the alt should read abit higher during morning starts. mine drains abit at night. once warm its center+. i hope the pull a part is cool. also, check and clean your neg battery cable with baking soda and wire brush. make sure its secure at is ground.

the engine and brain switch back and forth from the alt and batt while driving. a bad ground at the batt can cause erratic behavior. it's also why a weak amp bad will make a vehichile run poorly after being jumped. the computer need a certain amount of amps to run right. it sure can't hurt to clean and check your batt. cables.

good luck. keep us informed. i feel that one should always use motorcraft or the most expensive napa version of a part.

 

since my probs seem to happen when i have the fan on, stopped at lights(brake lights on) and head lights on but never while warming up, i'm starting to think the battery grounds are most likely our my issue. when the alt is on no prob? hmmmmm

my book shows threee grounds for the neg batt. one is g117, located on the pass fender towards the cabin. easy to follow from the cable and possibly or issue. the neg also goes down towards a pully and is grounded there at g101. that ground has another wire that grounds to the right hand side of the frame, called ground 103.

i'm gonna check mine in the morning if the weather is good. i got a feeling this is the issue if your new old ivr acts the same. good luck

 

Master Racinrob,

I didn't snub your reply, it just took me this long to tear into all that I wanted to do at the same time, when I had the time.

I just replaced my neg battey cable and cleaned up all of the grounding points, ie; body and block. I still have the problem.

I went by my local auto electric repair shop for a custom cable, which they didn't have but were kind enough to explain how to bypass with universl auto parts store unit. They said that my problem with the guages would not be solved with those grounds. They said the ground from the instrusment cluster was the fault.

Great! But they didn't say where that was. Any Ideas????

 

the cluster grounds to g203 the on on the y brace. it goes from the pc in the cluster to splice s201(near the headlamp switch) then to g203.

the scheme for the pc in the cluster shows the ivr grounding with in the board. maybe the conns there need cleaning. it shows the temp and oil senors grounds but not where. prob g203.

my manual states if all multiple gages are erratic check

the ivr ground(appears to be at the pc board con.?)

measure resistance of ivr.....59 to 61 ohms

measure voltage at the gy/y wire at the pc board 8 to 10 volts


the gr/y wire comes from the ignition and claims to be a 8 to 9 ohms resistance wire.... if that helps any.

good luck

 

Thanks,
The next time I have the right state of mind, I'll tackle the Cluster again. Cleaning off all the connections and learning what's what can't be all bad. Again, thanks.
zig

 

hey lone. update on my issue. my gauges have been on the money for a week now.

but the mystery continues.....................

took my van in for inspection.....told my shop that the reverse lights were out and i felt it was the switch or wire near the tranny...................this info wasn't passed on to the dude that worked on it...................two hours later they called and said they finally found it.... just as i predicted. i was bummed thinking about the labor isssue but they only hit me for a half hour. not too bad......

anyway i noticed the guy that worked on it fix alot of little stuff...like my never ending brake chatter.........i have a short in my cigar lighter and never fixed the fuse......but when my courtesy lights came on i knew he changed sum fuses while troubleshooting...... so i looked and there were some other new ones. the heater one was new.........

my gauge issues were worse when i ran the fan........... now i cant make my gauges act weird........i know he did some other stuff and i'll try to stop by to see if he cleaned a ground or something.......all i know is he changed the "working fuse" on my fan and know i have good gauges.

maybe this info will help..... hate to think some 10 cent fuse caused my issue for the last year or so..... if i talk to my mec. i see if i can find anymore info

 

Racinrob,
When you say they replaced some fuses, is that all that they replaced? Do you think that the fuses were bad, or that the contacts for the fuses were bad?
My rig never had a cig lighter when I got it, but when I had the dash apart installing a new radio, I found that I had no power to the lighter. I'm not sure where the fuse is for it yet, but I'll try cleaning up all the fuses in the fuse box.
Thanks for the tip. Let me know if the mystery is solved. I'm dealing with another mechanical issue this week, so it'll be a while before I tackle the electrics again.