I finished up my finals for the summer and was able to get out to the garage tonight. The order of business for the night was pulling out the console again and replacing the voltage regulator. The last time I had the console out was for the
Mini Tach Install. But even before then, the gauges have always been a bit messed up. The gas gauge only goes to 3/4 full and I don't trust it under 1/4 a tank. The oil gauge pegs at high during start-up, and the temp gauge always reads high (but never over heats). All together, I never trust if the car is going to run out of gas and overheat.
After doing so reading up on the forums, it looks like the voltage regulator might be the culprit of all three gauges not reading right. The voltage regulator on a first generation mustang has a bimetallic arm and heating element that regulate the current flow to the instruments and keeps it close to a constant 5V. The contact points can wear out over time, so I decided to replace it. I picked up a
solid-state one from Mustangs Unlimited. The solid state is more reliable than the points version.
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| The new regulator (top middle, green) replaces the old one (bottom middle, white) |
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| I also replace the high beam indicator (blue light) with an LED light. The cluster is now 100% LED (and awesome). |
We will see over the next couple of weeks how the instruments read, but I hope that fixes the readings I get now.
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| The junk yard dogs helped me out today (they become possessed after 10pm) |
