[timothale]

Sometimes a running change would result in a recall of sold units, other times it was rework all the units not delivered to a dealer, other times just a service bulletin. There could be idenical parts except for the finish, S2 suffex were black parts, S 36 were the gold colored, the same part out of the die before the finish. , less rust in the salt spray tests. The parts were used elsewhere that were not grounded. We had couple guys that just coordinated engineering changes, find a place to use surplus parts, and there was always a problem in the San Jose Calif assembly plant, . In the winter trains and trucks would get delayed because of the snow storms, and the resident design engineer scrambled to find pieces that would work to keep the assembly lines working. If you have ever had an older ford pickup , trying to find the right combinations of engine bolt on parts can be a nightmare. engines came to the assembly plant with carb, fuel pump and distributor. all the bolt on parts were added per the order, eg, Ac, PS, alt size. emission calibration.

[Oilyrascal]

All interesting stuff guys, not to change the subject bUUUt

I need to approach this differently I guess, I guess I need to ask a few questions at a time cause Its getting confusing.

I went to the salvage yard the other day and dropped 2 gas tanks and retrieved their sending units. I could not figure out why the heck I could get no reading so that is when I started this post, didnt get much of a response on how to use the meter so I just went ahead and assumed I needed to work harder.

I went to a different salvage yard this A.M and pulled 4 fuel tanks and their senders, I brought my meter with me, none of them read the way I thought they were supposed too. I was sure I just had no idea what to do with the meter.

I brought the meter back to Tampa Napa and asked for a sending unit for an 82 F-150, tested it there, same thing, no results, no-one at Napa had a clue how to use the multi-meter or they just couldnt be bothered to help.

Guy told me save receipt, dont install it, bring sending unit home and try to figure it out with help from your friends on-line.

Did that, came home, tried it again and now its working, also 1 out of the 4 I picked up at Cophers this A.M is working as well. I dont know why they did not work before and at this point do not care.

I see now how the reading goes from high to low, low to high.

I am assuming at this point that since the gauges appear identical from ( I think 81-86 ) Ford trucks that they all carry the same resistance values throughout the system, would you guys agree? I know in 87 they went to a fancier gauge, dash changed ect.

My question is looking at the pictures below........I want to go slow here and learn something, I would like to do what this fella is doing here on this You-tube video ........

Bench Test VW Fuel Gauge / Vibrator / Sending Unit - volkswagen gas gauge not working - YouTube

Bench Test VW Fuel Gauge / Vibrator / Sending Unit - volkswagen gas gauge not working - YouTube

Sorry if this has already been answered but which side of this gauge does the hot lead from the battery go on, seems to me it would matter.

Big Cliff seems to think it will and I agree, guys on Ford Forum say it does not matter I believe.

Looking at the video it looks like hot lead from battery goes on one prong of the gauge, then a lead from other side of gauge goes to fuel tank sending unit and then I would ground the fuel tank sending unit to negative side of battery, is that correct.

This guy mentions buzzer box, I dont know what that is and dont think I need to worry about it here?






Thanks guys

[PatM]

You also need to ground the gauge body.
Pat

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by PatM

You also need to ground the gauge body.
Pat

Thanks Pat, more questions to come.

[Oilyrascal]

It will seem as if I am leaving out bits and pieces here maybe but that is because I am finding out ( I am not overly computer savvy ) that many of my questions have been already answered within this thread and I did not realize that they were answered because I did not see that if I clicked on that one particular word that was highlighted it led me to a whole different forum where same questions have been asked and already answered.

Anyway Ok I DO need a CVR and this is it I am going to ground it I guess, as was mentioned it cannot hurt any.

If I am understanding correctly I need this CVR for all gauges except the Alt gauge, sound right ?

I see big Cliffs explanation of how the power needs to flow thru the gauges.........It will make a difference witch wire is on the positive see if one post has a plus or minis or one is gold and one silver or look at the bottom of the gauge way the needle will move the way the currant will flow to make the needle move,............as a good explanation and makes sense to me and so I will look at it this way.

I have a question though on grounding, Pat mentions grounding the gauges, the way I have the gauges set up within my 52 instrument cluster there is no provision for ground, so I need clarification on how to ground these.

Is it safe to assume that the gauges are grounded thru their metal case so all I need to do is run a jumper wire from case to case and then to a known good ground?

I am still working on my fuel tank sending issues but I am curious, how is the sending unit grounded, is it grounded as soon as its bolted to the tank, I ask because alot of these tanks seem to sit on rubber cushions so that has me confused. Thanks again guys, I am amazed at how much I have learned in such a short time thru this and one other forum.

[cobalt327]

If you ground the gauges it would be case to ground, yes. What you do NOT want to do is ground either terminal that also gets a power or sender wire to it- but I'm sure you know that.

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

If you ground the gauges it would be case to ground, yes. What you do NOT want to do is ground either terminal that also gets a power or sender wire to it- but I'm sure you know that.

Since making this post I have been told that the gauges are grounded thru the sensors and so no need for anything further but thanks anyway

[timothale]

On some gauges there is a light socket included, on those when installing the gauges in a wood or fiberglass dash panel a ground would have to be added for the light. and I like to run extra grounds to everything. Poor grounds that are supposed to be thru the case can cause funny things to happen

[timothale]

The older Mustang style CVR with the threaded studs might be easier to use than the snaps, but you could solder some wires or scrounge the connectors from something that requires a 9 V , battery if they are the same size. Is the copper colored piece on your CVR actually a ground connection. The other colored dots are probably verification quality controll marks for elect test good, mechanical crimps, etc. When I was working in the electronics industry we used to use hot melt glue to secure larger components to circuit boards, just the soldered wire leads would not hold in a vibration- drop test.

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by timothale

The older Mustang style CVR with the threaded studs might be easier to use than the snaps, but you could solder some wires or scrounge the connectors from something that requires a 9 V , battery if they are the same size. Is the copper colored piece on your CVR actually a ground connection. The other colored dots are probably verification quality controll marks for elect test good, mechanical crimps, etc. When I was working in the electronics industry we used to use hot melt glue to secure larger components to circuit boards, just the soldered wire leads would not hold in a vibration- drop test.

Hello, thanks fo responding, you would enjoy this thread better than I ICVR Thoughts & Observations - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums I think you are following my threads over there and what I have learned in the past week or so on this internet would have possibly taken me years to learn the old fashioned way but this thread gets waay to technical for me.

I still do not know what the I stands for when they reference ICVR?

I do not know what the copper colored deal is but thanks for pointing it out to me, it has given the the chance to look at it and I do believe now it is, regardless I planned to ground the unit just cause I have more faith in what others have told me than the bits I know.

I still would be interested in learning though how the heck this thing is originally grounded, it is screwed into the back of a plastic instrument cluster, I asked this and this is the response I received .......... If you look closely you will see that the later one mounts to the plastic through a bare place on the printed circuit. The older ones grounded through the metal shell of the instrument panel............I have no idea what he is meaning here and I dont want to continue pushing the question because everyone thinks differently and it may be taken as Im second guessing or something so not worth it.