Joined: Sat Apr 04 2009, 10:33PM
Location: washington
Posts: 163
Trying to trouble shoot the fuel gage and need to remove it from the dash. It looks like you have to drop the steering column and drop the assembly holding the gages from under the dash. Is that correct? Anyone have any tips or tricks for getting it out?
Joined: Sat Aug 19 2006, 05:03PM
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2919
Are you sure your problem isn't at the tank? Check that the sender ground strap at the tank is present and the sender wire is connected. Problem could also be the voltage regulator on the back of the instrument cluster. This pushes into the back of the cluster. May be possible to replace without removing the cluster, but I've never tried to.
Yes, you need to drop the column and remove the gauge cluster assembly to get at the fuel gauge. I'll try to remember all the steps from memory....
Remove the font seat. Your back will thank you. Even if it's a bench seat, it's worth the hassle to remove the seat IMO. Also, disconnect the battery negative cable. You'll be disconnecting the ammeter and you don't want the main power feed wire to be live when you do!
Put a clean towel on the floor. Unbolt the lower (cast metal) cover underneath the column, drop it down onto the towel and work around it. You'd need to disconnect the cowl vent cables at the far end to actually remove it from the car.
Before dropping the steering column, make sure to disconnect the PRNDL arm from the column first. May need to disconnect the electrical connector to the column as well, since there's probably not enough slack in the wiring harness to allow the column to drop. Loosen off the 3 bolts from the plate at the firewall too.
Need to remove the semicircular chrome trim from the outside of the gauge cluster. It's held in with 3 trim screws. This will expose some of the screws that hold the cluster in the dash. Also need to remove the upper cover on the column in front of the PRNDL, gas gauge and ammeter. Once you've dropped the lower cover, this exposes the screws to remove the upper cover. Once the upper cover is removed, I think all the screws to remove the cluster will be visible.
Before removing the cluster, you need to get behind it to remove the speedometer cable (collar unscrews), trip meter reset cable (collar unscrews), electrical connector (pull straight off, beware of fragile connector pins!) and ammeter connections (2 nuts).
Now remove the screws holding the cluster in place and it should drop out of the bottom of the dash. You'll have to disconnect some electrical plugs/lights to make slack in the wiring harness so you can push it out of the way to get the cluster out.
I can't remember if you need to remove the pull-out ashtray assembly for this job as well. You need to remove it to do just about everything else under the dashboard....
Joined: Sat Apr 04 2009, 10:33PM
Location: washington
Posts: 163
Checked all the tank end problems that i could without pulling the sender out of the tank. The gage was always flaky but when i removed the connector behind the cluster the blue wire pin came off in the connector. So i figured i would troubleshoot the gage and fix the pin all in one go . I heard the nichrome wire in the gage is usually smoked.