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jesse preston Posted on Aug 28, 2012
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None of my gauges work on my 1981 chevy k10

Speedometer, fuel, eng temp, all dont work and are hooked up..any ideas?

1 Answer

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  • Master 6,468 Answers
  • Posted on Aug 29, 2012
Anonymous
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The speedo on that is a mechanical cable from the trans the other gauges are controlled from a fuse and sending units

  • tace899
    tace899 Aug 14, 2014

    I am not sure about the model. Older vehicles have bimetal guages, that is, two different metals are heated by a heater element that cause the pointers to move, depending on the amount of current the sender units pass on. If this is the system on your vehicle, trace the wires on the dash guages to a little rectangular box, also usually mounted on the back of the instrument panel. This is a type of voltage regulator to ensure that the changing voltages from the alternator does not affect the readings. If this little critter gets bad, you have the same effect as a blown fuse and you have a hard time tracing the problem. Just make sure what type of guages you car has, don't go hunting for a part that is not on your car. The easiest way is to remember how the guages, when they still worked, reacted when you switched on the ignition. If the guages came on immediately, you probably have magnetic coil guages, not bimetals. If however the guages sort of took their time for a second or two to react after switch on, they are of the bimetal type and the regulator could very well be your culprit.

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5 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Nov 02, 2008

SOURCE: 1991 toyota pickup fuel and temp gauges dont work

You might have a bad ground. According to my Haynes manual's wiring diagram, both gauges share the same ground and typically that is "located on the left side of the instrument panel", wherever that is. Sorry I can't be more specific about the location. While it may not be true on your vehicle (the wiring diagram states "typical late model" in its description), my wiring diagram says that the ground wire is Brown (BR). You might try locating that wire and track it to its attachment point. You also might try tapping into it and using a continuity tester and ground out the wire to metal (there's plenty of grounding points under there). Make sure the ignition key is off!! There might be a bad ground wire closer to the meters than the attachment point. Hope this is helpful. Allow plenty of time if you're going to investigate this yourself. Do you have other gauges? Do they work? I think that all of the gauges are ganged through the same fuse (but not through the same ground wire). You might consider checking the fuse to ensure that it's OK. Your owners manual that came with the truck will tell you which fuse is it. If there are other things on the same fuse and they work, it's not the fuse. I hope that this is helpful.

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Anonymous

  • 7 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 28, 2008

SOURCE: I have a 2004 Chevy

Bad Stepper motors....the motors in your cluster are very weak... there is an upgraded motor x 25-168...cost 175.00 parts and labor to replace all of them. Ive repaired a lot of clusters with this very problem

Anonymous

  • 100 Answers
  • Posted on May 28, 2009

SOURCE: My 92 honda civic speedometer works only half the time

check the connection from speedometer to transaxle. Often this becomes loose, especially the transaxle side. Also 92 was a first year model and have heard many wacky problems.

Anonymous

  • 136 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 01, 2009

SOURCE: dashboard gauges dont work, 1998 dodge caravan

These vehicles seem to have a problematic short, my grandfather has the same vehicle with the same problem, i found the short under the carpet on the driver side of the vehicle, under the gas pedal, sometimes wires can crack and break.

MIKE

Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Oct 21, 2009

SOURCE: speedometer, gas gauge, odometer, rpm gauge not working

My gas guage, speed odometer and tempiture does not work
The speed odometre is reading 9999999 what should i do

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