63 Cluster troubleshooting

[Steve D.]

I have hooked up the cluster to a new harness. Everything appears to work ok. Headlight motors operate. Headlights, taillights, park lights, turn signals, instrument lights, dimmer switch, hi beam indicator and "Lights" tattletale all work. With the light switch on, if I turn the switch knob to the right, the instrument lights go off, the fuel and temperature gauges peg max right, and both turn indicator lights and the hi beam indicator light come on and burn steadily. The headlights and tale lights are not affected. This occurs for both positions of the light switch; first position park lights; second position head and tail lights.

The cluster ground is in place, but since the radio is not installed, the radio ground is not connected.

Any suggestions?

[Richard M.]

Re: 63 Cluster troubleshooting

Steve......you don't have fuel in the tank right! If there is a wiring error in the harness it could be dangerous. Applying power to the fuel sender circuit could be a big problem. Sorry but I had to ask.....

Sounds like you have a tough one. Bad grounds can do weird things. I would try disconnecting some items that work properly, one at a time, to see if it changes your problem. I would start at the instrument lights first(since the rheostat that controls them is what is affecting the other items). Does the courtesy light work, both when door activated or by the light switch? The fuel/temp gauge common is the 18g pink(+12v) from the ign switch acc position. It's acting like the 2 senders would act when hard grounded. Is the engine and fuel tank grounded properly? The directional indicators and hi-beam light are fed from 2 different circuits(yellow & green?) so I don't see anything common to the gauges. Another possibility may be a weird short in the light switch, somehow backfeeding from the instr light circuit to the other circuits. Maybe a recheck of your connections may yield some insight too.

.....R&R'd the cluster in my 59 twice this week so I feel your grief(especially in my back!). Once to install new engine harness and speedo bezel & needle, 2nd time to recalibrate speedo because I didn't test it before reinstall(arghh).

Hope I've been some help,

[Wayne W.]

Re: 63 Cluster troubleshooting

Sounds like a floating ground. Hard ground that cluster to the framework Zbar and recheck.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 63 Cluster troubleshooting

Steve,

Sounds like the headlight switch is the place to start, I would also attach the radio ground to the header bar and double check the cluster wires just to make sure all is correct.

[Steve D.]

Re: 63 Cluster troubleshooting

Rich

Thanks for the thought on the gas, beacuse there is gas in the tank. I think I'll disconnect the sender connections until I get the rheostat issue strightened out.

Steve

[Richard M.]

Re: 63 Cluster troubleshooting

Steve,

I'm glad I asked about the gas....I just registered on this forum last night so your thread was actually my very first post response. Been a member and owner about 20 years so I guess it was time! I'm glad I jumped in.

So....since you're going to disconnect the senders, do the test to check the gauges by grounding the fuel and temp wires to see if the gauges peg to the right as they should. I agree that you likely have some sort of ground float going on.

Keep us posted of your progress,
Rich

[Steve D.]

Re: 63 Cluster troubleshooting

Wayne

Direct grounded the cluster and the described situation disappeared and the rheostat worked normally. I removed the direct ground and and the rheostat continued to work normally with none of the prior stange happenings. Go figure.
I did, however, install a permanent ground to the Z bar.

Thanks.

Steve