factory gauges

[abyars111]

I have replaced the temp sending unit & the fuel sending unit on my truck and the gauges now work. The oil pressure has always worked. The temp & oil pressure gauge start out past "C" & "L" and don't move very much to the right once I'm going. The temp gauge never moves more than 1/4 way across the gauge. Is this normal? I expected them to be more in the middle of the gauge when the truck was warm.

How can I tell if the ALT gauge is working? The needle is in the middle of the gauge and never moves.

[Calfdemon]

The ALT gauge is worthless and never moves. As far as the other gauges (assuming you are using stock gauges), the best way to adjust them to read properly is to use your fuel gauge. Fill your tank completely and then make sure your fuel gauge reads completely full. If not, then you need to adjust the voltage regulator on the back of your instrument cluster using a small screw driver. Just adjust it so that your fuel gauge reads properly and then the other gauges should read as close to accurate as the stock gauges will. They are not the most accurate gauges to start with which is why many replace them with aftermarket gauges in the F600 dashes. And of course, the ALT gauge gets replaced with a VOLT gauge instead.

[sargentrs]

On my original 302, with the original radiator, my temp gauge never got much above "C". While the engine and radiator would be pretty warm I could still leave my hand on it for a second or two without being too hot to touch. The engine compartment never got that hot either. She never overheated, no matter how low the coolant got, so I assumed she just ran cool. Oil pressure.....well, she always ran low but with 260K miles on her, I just figured the bearings were worn out.

[69Ford]

I've done some research on ford Alt gauges and tried several of them actualy got them to move about 1/32 of an inch off center from charge discharge. If you are not watching closely you will not see it. Don't know why Ford even
bothered with them. Maybe to make the cluster look nice.
'

[abyars111]

I didn't realize that regulator could be adjusted. My fuel gauge only goes to about 7/8ths full. I tested my temp gauge by grounding the socket under the hood, it only went about 2/3rds of the way across the gauge. I will try to adjust that regulator. I plan to install some guages under the dash because I like to see number readings but I want the dash gauges to work, just like the look of them.

Although those F600 dash panels look cool!

Thanks for the help.

[Calfdemon]

If your fuel gauge is reading 7/8ths while full, then the rest of your gauges are reading below normal too... Yeah, you will need to increase the voltage a little to get the tank gauge to read full. Once you make that adjustment, you will see that the rest of your gauges will have adjusted as well.

[Nitekruizer]

As was already mentioned, the AMP guage doesn't move very much at all. It should move very slightly though, when you turn the headlights "on" or "off", for example. If it doesn't move at all, there are two little plastic in-line fuse holders located under the hood near the alternator that you can check. If either of those fuses have blown then the AMP guage won't work.

[Whateverman]

my gauge is capable of moving almost 1/4 of an inch now,but it didn't do that until after the voltage reg suffered some sort of meltdown that caused the alt gauge to suffer some severe kind of seizure (the needle would twitch like crazy then slam back and forth like it was going outta style) - amazing that it didn't snap the needle off or something ,thankfully it pretty much stays dead centre where its supposed to most of the time