guages.

[nipper]

I am trying to sell my 1985 Formula F-2 sunsport cuddy. The only guages which are working are the voltmeter and the tachometer. None of the other guages appears to have any power because the panel lights do not light up on the non-functioning guages, but the lights come on for the voltmeter and tach. I am not very good at electrical work. Any suggestions on where I should start first?

[Bygracealone]

I am trying to sell my 1985 Formula F-2 sunsport cuddy. The only guages which are working are the voltmeter and the tachometer. None of the other guages appears to have any power because the panel lights do not light up on the non-functioning guages, but the lights come on for the voltmeter and tach. I am not very good at electrical work. Any suggestions on where I should start first?

In situations like that, it's usually easier to install a new panel (at least in my humble opinion)...

[garbubba]

If you're trying to do it on the cheap, figure out which is power & ground on a working guage & jumper them to a non working guage, that may fix them all (if they are wired in series), or you may need to repeat that for each guage.

If you are just missing power that should do it, but if you are missing the input signal......

good luck.

Doug

[Bygracealone]

As for the instrument lights, they should all be running off a series of blue wires. If the wires and connections are good, then the bulbs are out. As to why the gauges themselves aren't working, that's difficult to say. Could be bad connections or a broken circuit or bad gauges????

[Destroyer]

As previously stated by ByGraceAlone and others, instrument gages usually have two sets of wires. One set is for the lights (usually a blue wire and a black wire) and another set for the actual gage function itself. (Depending on the maker of the gage, they might use the ground [black] wire for both the lights and the gage function). What I'm trying to point out is that just because your lights are not working is not necessarily an indication that the gage is bad. In order to find out if the gage is bad you'll need to check each gage's function. For instance, if it's a tilt up/down gage you'll need to check the tilt switch on your engine, and the wires leading from the switch back to the gage, etc. Think of the lights as a completely seperate system that just happen to share the same space inside the gage housing as the gage function does. :head:



And ... just for information's sake and printed in good humor:

Gage is the preferred spelling for instruments and in manufacturing in America.
Gauge is also correct and is gaining acceptance.
Guage is not in the dictionary .....yet. ...It might be where Elmer Fudd parks his car however ... the gu..agj :you:

[nipper]

Oops, it didn't look right when I spelled it guage rather than gauge, but I left it that way. I stand informed and corrected. Thanks.