So I ordered a brand new fuel, temp, oil pressure and amp gauge for my 68 charger from Classic Industries last year along with one of the solid state voltage limiters because it said one was required in their catalog for them to operate properly. I did omit the small capacitor when everything was installed as per the instructions that came with the new limiter. Anyways, fast forward to this past weekend, I start my car and the fuel, temp and oil pressure gauges don't work. The circuit board was in good shape with no loose pins, and I have tried grounding the sending unit wires to see if the gauges move to full and nothing happens. So my question is, if the new gauges are made to exact original specifications, why is the solid state limiter required? I have the old original limiter and capacitor that I could install to see if the gauges work, but don't want to burn them up. Is there a way to test a voltage limiter with a multimeter to determine if it is good?
Thanks for any help.
If the car starts, then U at least have 12V coming through ignition switch. Next U need to check the connector from the ignition switch to the dash panel for 12V while being sure U have a good ground to the dash panel structure.... Often a pin or connector can have a bad connection be it oxidized or burnt or loose.
Regarding the voltage limiter, this is required as it drops 12V to 5V. The solid state limiter will work with new repro guages but not with the original OE guages as they will read low. It has to do with the basic guage meter movement, the original OE guages has a built-in thermal shunt system as to minmize needle movement with a voltage variation. Some people have argued with me about this but we have worked on multiple Mopar cars and actually have tried (2) different solid state voltage limiters with the OE original guages both read low. Plugged in an OE standard voltage limiter and all is well...
Just my $0.02...
