66 charger....gauges don't work

[TylerCharger69]

just purchased a nice 66 Charger. The oil pressure, temperature, and fuel gauges don't work. Either do the dash lights for that matter....Anyone?

[A383Wing]

More than likely the voltage limiter inside the fuel gauge is bad, or, those three gauges are burned up.

As for the dash lights, could be any number of items, corroded fuse box, bad fuse, bad rheostat on the headlight switch, faulty power pack that powers up the dash, shorted needle stopping all the EL from not working. The dash lights are run by a power pack that puts out 225 AC voltage at 250hz......

I have new & rebuilt power packs here, but you will need to diagnose exactly why they are not working

Fixing these dash clusters can run upwards of $1,500 depending on what is wrong.

If you are going to be working on this car, a service manual will be your best friend. The first generation Chargers are the most difficult and the most expensive to restore.....if you bought this car to fix and flip for a profit, you will not get your investment back out of it if selling for a profit is your plan

Bryan

[ODZKing]

Bryan is correct. Although these have been coming up in price they still have some very unique features.
If you have more than one gauge out, there is a good chance it's the voltage limiter.
The power pack for the lamps is most likely bad as far as the dash lights which are EL. Bryan may have a used one.
If not I am sure the GaugeDoc (Mark) will chime in soon. He repairs all of this.
Bob

[TylerCharger69]

   Could the problem be synonymous as the same as the 69 being that rectangular silver regulator that plugs into the back of the cluster?  This car is totally unmolested, the interior is nearly immaculate, and I don't want to take any more apart than I have to, so I'm not totally sure of what the back of the cluster looks like.  A picture will be helpful...and....what is EL?

[A383Wing]

The rectangular silver limiter on the 69 is not on the back of the 66 cluster, like I stated above, it's built into the fuel gauge....not replaceable like you think

EL stands for electroluminescent lighting....there are no dash lights in these clusters....lighting is done by a power pack that supplies 250v AC to these clusters.....if you don't know what you are doing with this system, leave it alone and let someone who knows how this system works to repair it...you can easily screw something up and it will cost you more in the long run

(see reply #1 above)

[TylerCharger69]

Welp...I'll gladly pay to have it all fixed.  Anyone chime in and tell me what to do as far as getting it sent off, price, etc.

[twecomm]

Call this person... http://www.thegaugedoc.com   He specializes in restoration of 66-67 Charger gauges. He's the best !