Gas Gauge, Oil Pressure, and Temp Gauge Not working

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Android04

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2020
Posts
16
Reaction score
21
Location
Louisville, KY
First Name
Andrew
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
C30
Engine Size
400 SBC
Well, this is my first post and I need some help! Please welcome me with open arms :)

I recently bought a 1985 Single Cab Dually, and have been fighting some "country engineering" with house wire, and TONS of wire nuts from the previous owner. I have the entire gauge panel and harness down to the fuse box torn out today to fix some burnt up wire. Now that all of that is done I figured I would tackle my gauges.

My gas gauge is pegged full, and it only has one tank. It doesn't have a wire from the bulk head to the tank, so I ran one directly and still the same. If I unhook the gauge it will peg empty. Thoughts?

Temp gauge I ran a direct wire bypassing the bulk head from the cluster on the PIN from a schematic that I found online, and it falls under 100 once the key is on, and when off it goes up to 100. It does have a new coolant temp sensor in it. Thoughts?

Oil Pressure, this wire was burnt up. So I did the same as the coolant line and ran a wire directly to a new unit I put in by the distributor. It does not have a unit by the oil pump. Thoughts?

I will add more, I'm currently going through it now. I appreciate all the help! I am mechanically inclined and can do any work that is suggested, so I promise no suggestions will go ignored. Here are some pics of my trucks

1965 C10 - built by me, air ride, 327, 3 on the tree, patina daily driver
1985 C30 - Farmer built haha - 400 sbc with RV Cam, TH400 Trans

You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach
 

Snoots

Full Access Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Posts
8,158
Reaction score
15,957
Location
Georgia
First Name
Roger
Truck Year
1973
Truck Model
Jimmy Sierra
Engine Size
350
You should have a grounding block on the kick panel near the parking brake.
It sounds like you have lost a ground.
These grounding blocks tend to rust. Just remove it, clean it and, reinstall with a dab of copper anti-seize between it and the kick panel.
 

Android04

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2020
Posts
16
Reaction score
21
Location
Louisville, KY
First Name
Andrew
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
C30
Engine Size
400 SBC
You should have a grounding block on the kick panel near the parking brake.
It sounds like you have lost a ground.
These grounding blocks tend to rust. Just remove it, clean it and, reinstall with a dab of copper anti-seize between it and the kick panel.

Great I will check that first thing tomorrow morning.
 

Android04

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2020
Posts
16
Reaction score
21
Location
Louisville, KY
First Name
Andrew
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
C30
Engine Size
400 SBC
I checked today and it does appear the grounds are all there. I do see one terminal that is empty so I'm doing some more digging.
 

Snoots

Full Access Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Posts
8,158
Reaction score
15,957
Location
Georgia
First Name
Roger
Truck Year
1973
Truck Model
Jimmy Sierra
Engine Size
350
It may not matter that one is empty. Get yourself an ohmmeter and check it out. A DMM can be your best troubleshooting friends!
 

Android04

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2020
Posts
16
Reaction score
21
Location
Louisville, KY
First Name
Andrew
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
C30
Engine Size
400 SBC
I figured out the oil pressure and I think the fuel gauge so far. Oil pressure had a sending unit hooked up instead of a switch. So I bought a switch and installed it yesterday and the gauge is working. Kind of sticking, but it's working. So that's a plus!

The fuel gauge appeared to be a broken connection on the sending unit on the driver tank. So I ordered a new sender, and that should arrive today to install it over the weekend. Hoping to have the new dash pad and everything installed as well to make a little more progress.
 

Ilike55s

Junior Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2019
Posts
22
Reaction score
9
Location
SE New mexico
First Name
Joe
Truck Year
1982
Truck Model
C10 Silverado
Engine Size
305?
Hello to all,,I have a 1982 Silverado that I replaced the sick 305 with a 454 and finally got it running pretty good,,except for the oil pressure and temp gauges. The oil pressure gauge stays at max even with engine off. Checked with a manual gauge and engine oil pressure is 65 at idle. Temp gauge registers correct (I think) but will swing all the way to max every 10-15 seconds and then come back to normal. Years ago, on my first squarebody,,they used to sell some small rectangular porcellin(sp) thingies that you installed on the contacts that would cure the erratic gauges,,,are these still available?
I will add that I used the temp sender and the oil pressure sender from the 454 and the gauges are from the 305,,,could this be the problem?
Thanks for any help.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
41,859
Posts
903,668
Members
33,372
Latest member
83elcowes
Top