1965 instrument voltage regulator

[Terry64HT]

Glad to hear it. My 64 is now in winter storage and I'm in Florida accumulating the parts I need for next spring.
Not much left to do on it now.
Terry
64HT

[romans324]

My 65 Tbird gauges are all grounding out to the right of the gauges except the amp gauge which still works. I was Removing the safety convenient panel when the gauges all moved to the right when ignition is turned on. Prior to that all the gauges worked fine. Need help troubleshooting. Thanks. Jim.

[Yadkin]

Fuel level, water temp, and oil pressure gauges are on the same circuit. Fused 12 volt power goes to a Constant Voltage Regulator (CVR) that generates a constant 6 volts. Six volts goes to each gauge, and each gauge is grounded through a variable resistor (senders).

The gauges are all the same, just different printing and scales. The circuit powers a heating element that acts on a coil that moves the needle. Thus the dampening effect, or slow moving needle. To test each gauge, ground the wire (0 ohms) and the needle should move all the way (full, hot, or high).

It is unusual that all three are grounding out when you fiddled with a panel. I'd start investigating there.

[Montana Tbird]

You are correct - upon rechecking all of the connections on the back of the gauges, one or more was incorrectly wired. Good old operator error! But everything works great now. Thanks

[romans324]

Not sure who Montana is?? But his reply to my question got on my log in reply space??. I’m still looking for the problem with my 1965 Tbird gauges all moving to the full right position upon ignition. I am Checking the fuse location 12 on the fuse panel today as one suggested. . Maybe it grounded out somehow. Thanks for the help. Jim

[romans324]

Well thank you all for the advice. I just found the problem with my gauges grounding out on my 65 bird. The CVR was not grounded to the chassis behind the dash. Just floating there. When I grounded it to the metal dash all the gauges worked. Hallelujah

[romans324]

Now to another problem. One of my fuses that operates the washer motor is blowing out constantly and the washer motor is hot as a firecracker. Now to diagnose this problem. Any help would be appreciated.

[romans324]

Thanks Montana T-bird. Just realized you were answering a question from the previous person trying to help. Hope all has worked out for you. Keep pressing on with these old birds.

[Jeff73Mach1]

Washer motor is bad

[Terry64HT]

The little push button switch for the washers is prone to fail or move out of position, causing the washer motor to run constantly until it burns out. Good idea to check the function of this switch (power only to the motor when the washer lever is pulled) before hooking up a new motor.
Terry
64HT

[romans324]

Originally Posted by Terry64HT

The little push button switch for the washers is prone to fail or move out of position, causing the washer motor to run constantly until it burns out. Good idea to check the function of this switch (power only to the motor when the washer lever is pulled) before hooking up a new motor.
Terry
64HT

Thanks Terry. Yes the washer motor was bad. Didn’t know about the little switch until I pulled the dash out fixing AC problems. I was not aware that it runs in the event that the switch slips away from its housing. I will double check that amount to make sure it stays in. Thanks again, Jim @ROM324

[romans324]

Originally Posted by romans324

Thanks Terry. Yes the washer motor was bad. Didn’t know about the little switch until I pulled the dash out fixing AC problems. I was not aware that it runs in the event that the switch slips away from its housing. I will double check that amount to make sure it stays in. Thanks again, Jim @ROM324

Correction, I’m at romans324