69 Charger gauges: What happened and how to fix?

So I don't think I have driven my 69 Charger since August. Last night I started it up and changed it's place in the garage so I could get it out easily this morning for a junkyard road trip. I noticed the gas gauge showed empty. This could have been correct, because I don't remember how much gas was in it from back in August.

So this morning I loaded it up and head north to the first gas station about 5 miles away. I noticed the temp gauge didn't move, but it was like 20 degrees, so maybe it didn't heat up in 5 miles. I pumped $25 of gas into the car and started it up and the gas gauge didn't move. Thought okay, maybe it's stuck from sitting... But the temp gauge still hasn't moved. Oil pressure gauge seems like it might be off as well because it moves to about center and just stays there. So after a couple more miles, I figure the three gauges are dead. Had about a 40 minute ride to a friend's house and nothing from those three gauges. We resorted to using his 55 Ford pickup for our junkyard road trip.

My car is original and not restored, so the gauges are 44 years old. I've owned this car since 1988 when I was only 19. I had problems with these three gauges 20 or so years ago. Back then, while I was driving, the three gauges kind of danced around a little and then they went totally dead. This time, I am getting a little movement from the needles as they do come up a little right when the car is started. Gas gauge stays up to the very first empty line. Temp gauge comes up a little and falls down to zero again. The oil pressure gauges goes about half way and stays there. Last time, 20 years ago, I had a local garage fix it. I think he said it was just that push in regulator, but the three gauges were burned out and I had to provide new (used) gauges. Back then, you could go to any junkyard and get Charger gauge clusters for a couple bucks.

When I got home today, I replaced that push in regulator and the gauges still don't work. I also replaced that other little regulator, the one with the short wire... And still no gauges. So what happened and where do I go from here? I still have several sets of original gauges that I got 25 years ago. I know I can buy new ones if I want to.

Sorry for the long read... Just trying to provide enough info. I really don't want to send my entire gauge cluster out for a rebuild. This is nice original stuff. I'd just like to fix whatever is wrong and continue to drive the car the way it is (unrestored). Sometimes it's NICE to drive an old car that's not so perfect.

On my 73, the voltage limiter on the backside of the cluster went bad, and when it did, it fried the gas, oil, and temp gauges.

did you replace the regulator with a known good one? or just one you had laying around?

did you check for power to it?

there are a few possiblities.
1. you no longer have power to the cluster. you should check that first.
see if you have power going into the vr in the cluster.
if not track that down first.

2. the replacement you put in is dead too.
check power out of the vr.

3. wiring is bad somewhere common. a plug or whatever had been taken out.
if you have power coming out of the vr then check at the temp sensor first. see if you have 5 volts or pulsing power to it with a test light.

4. all the sensors died for some reason. unlikely.
but if you have power to all the sensors, I would then see about replacing the temp one just incase.

Quote:

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On my 73, the voltage limiter on the backside of the cluster went bad, and when it did, it fried the gas, oil, and temp gauges.

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Yes, this is what happened to me 20 or so years ago. The three gauges were totally dead, they didn't move at all. This time, there is some slight movement, so I'm hoping they aren't dead.

And yeah, the two items I replaced today were from my stash of used Charger gauges and stuff. I do not know if they are good. I have several more. Just really was hoping to avoid doing this several times.