Griff 500 dash gauge issues
Discussion
Hi - Im looking for some advice as I have some instrument problems, my 500 , early serpentine (1994) was bought as a damaged car and the dash was
missing - I bought a dash through the classifieds and the tach, speedo, voltmeter and clock all work fine.
The temp gauge works now with the correct sender fitted , great help from Mark at Racetech . I need an adaptor to make it
fit the engine though , tested it in hot water and it works fine.
THe gauges are ETB it seems ?.
Still cant get the oil pressure to read though, I have tried 3 senders (the one that came with the car, a Caerbont, and new one from Racetech - assume ETB ) and they all send the gauge to the max pressure side when the power is on. ?.
THe fuel tank sender is mis matched too - it reads near the full level but does register from empty to full, only using
about 1/4 of the top end of the range. The sender is the 5 bolt fitting to the tank.
Any ideas would be very welcome - maybe my wiring needs altered ?. If anyone knows of a company who I could send the gauges and senders
to so they could all be checked ?. (in Fife, Scotland)
Cheers
James
missing - I bought a dash through the classifieds and the tach, speedo, voltmeter and clock all work fine.
The temp gauge works now with the correct sender fitted , great help from Mark at Racetech . I need an adaptor to make it
fit the engine though , tested it in hot water and it works fine.
THe gauges are ETB it seems ?.
Still cant get the oil pressure to read though, I have tried 3 senders (the one that came with the car, a Caerbont, and new one from Racetech - assume ETB ) and they all send the gauge to the max pressure side when the power is on. ?.
THe fuel tank sender is mis matched too - it reads near the full level but does register from empty to full, only using
about 1/4 of the top end of the range. The sender is the 5 bolt fitting to the tank.
Any ideas would be very welcome - maybe my wiring needs altered ?. If anyone knows of a company who I could send the gauges and senders
to so they could all be checked ?. (in Fife, Scotland)
Cheers
James
I guess you need to confirm the make of gauges originally fitted to the car and those you have bought. You may have a miss match between gauges and senders, the gauges that you list as working are those that dont use senders. The ETB and Caerbont gauges use different resistance ranges for thier senders. If you have obtained an early 500 dash with gauges these would be Stewart Warner items. If the car is late 94 model then the original gauges could have been iether ETB or Caerbont. If the original fuel sender is in place this will give you the answer. The ETB fuel sender top is white plastic with 4 individual wire conections, the Caerbont sender will have a metal top with a 2 wire plug. Both have a 5 bolt mounting pattern.
Thanks , that makes sense really.
The fuel gauge has a double bullet type connector with 2 wires , so assume its a Caerbont ?.
Can you tell me how to recognise the gauges , they don't have a manufacturer's name
stamped on them.? I have bought 2 full sets from e-bay so far !
THe fuel gauge I'm trying to use has a label on the back with very faint numbers :
0-6B/R , + , BISCH01
Any ideas ?
JIM
The fuel gauge has a double bullet type connector with 2 wires , so assume its a Caerbont ?.
Can you tell me how to recognise the gauges , they don't have a manufacturer's name
stamped on them.? I have bought 2 full sets from e-bay so far !
THe fuel gauge I'm trying to use has a label on the back with very faint numbers :
0-6B/R , + , BISCH01
Any ideas ?
JIM
Hi,
Looks like you have a car that had Caerbont gauges.
Caerbont gauges have aluminium half round bezel, 100mm dia main gauges, 52mm minor
ETB gauges have a black half vee bezel, 100mm dia main gauges, 62mm dia minor
Stewart Warner gauges have a black vee bezel but speedo needle swings down from right to left, 80mm dia main gauges, 52mm minor gauges (I think).
You need to determine the gauges you have. Sounds like the gauges you have are not Caerbont.
There are companies out there that can help with senders like Clevor Trevor, TVR Power, SpeedyCables etc. If you have ETB gauges then you may have fun with the fuel gauge as this has 3 common wires between gauge and sender, the wiring loom for Caerbont gauge and sender only has 1.
Im not in the trade, but have been teaching myself as I'm looking to upgrade from ETB gauges to Caerbont items.
Oz
Looks like you have a car that had Caerbont gauges.
Caerbont gauges have aluminium half round bezel, 100mm dia main gauges, 52mm minor
ETB gauges have a black half vee bezel, 100mm dia main gauges, 62mm dia minor
Stewart Warner gauges have a black vee bezel but speedo needle swings down from right to left, 80mm dia main gauges, 52mm minor gauges (I think).
You need to determine the gauges you have. Sounds like the gauges you have are not Caerbont.
There are companies out there that can help with senders like Clevor Trevor, TVR Power, SpeedyCables etc. If you have ETB gauges then you may have fun with the fuel gauge as this has 3 common wires between gauge and sender, the wiring loom for Caerbont gauge and sender only has 1.
Im not in the trade, but have been teaching myself as I'm looking to upgrade from ETB gauges to Caerbont items.
Oz
Ozz - thanks for that in depth revue, I have a set of ETB and set of smaller Stu Warner gauges, typically , but not all work. I swapped the oil pressure senders, I have 3 .
I think Ill contact ETB send them all my gauges and senders to see what they can match up in a full set.
I seem to have been through all the permutations .!
Thanks for your help. know anyone looking for a set ?.
James
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/imgs/6.gif
I think Ill contact ETB send them all my gauges and senders to see what they can match up in a full set.
I seem to have been through all the permutations .!
Thanks for your help. know anyone looking for a set ?.
James
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/imgs/6.gif
Hi,
you might want test your gauges off the car first, its not that difficult.
Water temp senders usually reduce in resistance with increase in temp. So if your gauge shoots of the scale then you have no resistance i.e a short in sender direct to earth. If gauge does not move this would indicate infinte resitance i.e broken wire/bad connection.
Oil pressure sender usually increase in resistance with increase in pressure. So if your gauge shoots of the scale this would indicate infinte resitance i.e broken wire/bad connection. If gauge does not move this would indicate you have no restance i.e a short in sender direct to earth.
Fuel level sender can vary, as float rises to indicate full, resitance can iether rise or drop. ETB sender resistance drops as float rises, Caerbont sender resitance increases as float rises.
Obviously if you can't get any needle movement then the gauge is probably shot.
By connecting and braking earth to gauge sender input you should see the pointer move across the gauge face. I've done this by using a 12v battery charger and wiring, you can even rig up a spare temperature sender with the gauge and by warming or cooling it get the gauge needle to move across any working gauge.
Oz
you might want test your gauges off the car first, its not that difficult.
Water temp senders usually reduce in resistance with increase in temp. So if your gauge shoots of the scale then you have no resistance i.e a short in sender direct to earth. If gauge does not move this would indicate infinte resitance i.e broken wire/bad connection.
Oil pressure sender usually increase in resistance with increase in pressure. So if your gauge shoots of the scale this would indicate infinte resitance i.e broken wire/bad connection. If gauge does not move this would indicate you have no restance i.e a short in sender direct to earth.
Fuel level sender can vary, as float rises to indicate full, resitance can iether rise or drop. ETB sender resistance drops as float rises, Caerbont sender resitance increases as float rises.
Obviously if you can't get any needle movement then the gauge is probably shot.
By connecting and braking earth to gauge sender input you should see the pointer move across the gauge face. I've done this by using a 12v battery charger and wiring, you can even rig up a spare temperature sender with the gauge and by warming or cooling it get the gauge needle to move across any working gauge.
Oz
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