Hi everyone i hope everyones well anyway heres an update on what ive being do for the past couple of weeks. ive put my heater back into my capri now after the motor stopped working but i got it going again. its all back in now a connected up as my last post was i could'nt get the unit back in and i wanted to check if the air flow flap was in the correct position which it is. i started to re assemble the lower dash so i put the glove box in next i might replace the electrical aerial at a later date as many of you know i tried to get it working but i think the motors gone. the aerials not really important at the moment as i mainly play CD's in the radio anyway. before i put the lower dash panel and ash tray back i took the facia off the front of the dash to take the instrument cluster out so i could use peers dupp's handy guide on how to change the bulbs for LED's as i had already brought green LED's off ebay ready to do this job. my dash facia could do with replaceing as 2 out of the 3 metal clips are missing, someone has put an after market vaccum gauge in it which i dont want in the dash anymore and 2 out of the 3 screw bits are broken so i might send capri ghia a message. anyway i took the cluster out no problem apart from having to research how to get the speedo cable out of the back. i took the whole cluster apart cleaning the dust out of it as well as taking the gauges out to replace the blubs.
I took the blue covers off the bulbs 3 out of 4 of them fell apart just touching them it looks like the bulbs got really hot in there looking at the staining/burn marks on the plastic around the blubs. to fit the new LED's i had to file down the edges of the cases so they would fit which peers told me about. thanks to stevemarl as well as his polarities graph came in handy putting the LED's in the correct way round. i re assembled the cluster after checking the LED's worked in the cluster off my spare battery then i put the cluster back in the car and the rest of the dash back together. then we went for a drive and i noticed in the half an hours drive the temprature gauge hadn't moved at all for the whole drive so when we got back i checked the sender unit by earthing the wire off a metal piece on the block but nothing. i thought it probably would't be the sender unit as it was changed a couple of years ago with a new one and it was working fine before i took the cluster out. all the other gauges and dials work perfectly except the temp gauge is there another test i can do to see if the gauge is broken? i must have broke something or dis lodged something when i was taking the cluster apart and putting it back together even though i was being extra carefull. do i have to take most of the dash out again to replace the gauge if so where can i get another gauge from or can i get it working again? also whats the best way to put the hazard light switch back into the dash as its a pain i can only get it in a bit it does'nt clip in all the way. thanks in advance sorry about all the writing
dan the capri fan wrote: also whats the best way to put the hazard light switch back into the dash as its a pain i can only get it in a bit it does'nt clip in all the way. thanks in advance sorry about all the writing
Yeah I'd also like to know the answer to this question
Check the voltage at the sender wire on the engine. You should be reading approx 5 volts.
If not you might have damaged the voltage reg behind the dash. Does your fuel gauge work ok?
ATB
Neil
Hi neil thanks for the response as i said all the other gauges and dials work fine apart from the temp one the fuel gauge works fine. how do you test theres voltage getting to the sender i pressume you put the ignition on set the multi meter to the correct voltage position and then put the red probe into the end of the wire where it connects onto the sender then earth the black probe off the body, engine or battery negative terminal?
Probly the plug that goes into the instrument cluster , or more correctly the floppy printed circuit membrane . I have found that the tip of the printed circuit membrane where it folds into the hole the plug fits into, the copper contact can either fold out of the way and not make contact when the plug is inserted , or the copper can crack right across the width just where it folds down over the edge of the hole . Mine is so munted that next time ( or maybe the one after ) I take the cluster out Im gunna take the whole membrane off and rewire the cluster with a new plug and socket
Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
sheff wrote:
Hi neil thanks for the response as i said all the other gauges and dials work fine apart from the temp one the fuel gauge works fine. how do you test theres voltage getting to the sender i pressume you put the ignition on set the multi meter to the correct voltage position and then put the red probe into the end of the wire where it connects onto the sender then earth the black probe off the body, engine or battery negative terminal?
It won't be the regulator if the fuel gauge works. Still be worth checking if you're getting a voltage reading at the sender wire. Yes neg on voltmeter to a good earth and pos (red) inside into the end of the wire.
And yes as Mc Tool has said, it could be a bad connection on the back of the cluster.
Dan,
I forgot to say that the cause of the problem could be poor electrical contact at the back of the temp gauge.Did you reassemble it properly? It's still worth checking and cleaning the contacts.
Andrew.
Last edited by Andrew 2.8i on Wed Feb 04, 2015 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dan the capri fan wrote: also whats the best way to put the hazard light switch back into the dash as its a pain i can only get it in a bit it does'nt clip in all the way. thanks in advance sorry about all the writing
Yeah I'd also like to know the answer to this question
That massive cluster of wires at the back of it can keep it from going in completely. Isn't much room at the back of there.
I tied one end of a long rubber band to the hazard light harness , other end to a handy anchor up behind the dash so that when I pull the plug thru the hole in the lower dash trim and plug the switch on to it . rubber band then pulls the harness back up into the dash area
Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
To refit the hazzard switch with its huge bundle of wires took me a while but here's the trick...... if you look up into where it all has to go, there is a hole in a metal bracket that the loom and plug have to fit into - it's about 1 inch diam. The trouble comes when the loom coils before it gets there and one of the coils snags on the edge of the hole. Simply make up a short tube to fit inside the hole.. a short stubby tube fashioned from a plastic drinks bottle does the job fine, slip it over the switch and loom, push it up and let it expand into the hole. It provides a nice smooth guide for everything.
