Might as well start thinking about dialing some of the gauges in

[bull]

So of the six gauges, three of them are having problems. The speedo, the temp gauge and possibly the oil pressuregauge; believe it or not my fuel gauge seems to be pretty accurate although it's pretty shocking how quickly it heads toward E. I believe I've got a good idea on the speedo (a combination of a lack of lubrication and the wrong gear in the trans) and I'll need to hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge again to verify that one but the temp gauge is a bit of a mystery. What it probably is is the wrong sender sold to me by Autozone.

Can someone give me a heads up as to which temp sender is correct for my 383? I have a 180-degree t-stat and it opens like clockwork at 180. Problem is the gauge says about 230 by then. I am able to verify the correct temp using a temp gun at the top of the water pump and I have verified it with 2 different guns.

[MaximRecoil]

Can someone give me a heads up as to which temp sender is correct for my 383? I have a 180-degree t-stat and it opens like clockwork at 180. Problem is the gauge says about 230 by then. I am able to verify the correct temp using a temp gun at the top of the water pump and I have verified it with 2 different guns.

Whatever temperature sender the parts store lists for your car should be the right one, for example, the Standard Motor Products Part # TS18, which is listed for most Chryslers from '63 - '68, or the Airtex/Wells Part # 1T1010, which is listed for Chryslers from '63 - '89.

The first thing I'd do is take the gauge out and adjust the needle to the left some (using the toothed adjustment things on the back of the gauge) to try to get it to show about 180 when you know your temperature is at 180, and then see how that works throughout the temperature range.

If you still have problems with it, the fiberglass insulation on the nichrome wire is probably partially or fully burned off, due to being overvolted too many times over the years. This affects accuracy of the gauge because lack of insulation on the nichrome wire allows more heat to reach the bimetallic strip it's wrapped around for a given voltage input, which makes it read higher than it should. The only solution in that case is to replace the nichrome wire.  

[bull]

I'll probably try the gauge adjustment this winter. The speedo cable might need to come all the way out and get re-lubed or replaced anyway.

[Dino]

What's wrong with the speedometer?  If the needle doesn't move a whole lot then it may be the metal 'cup' on the back.  It has a lock setting and to undo just grab the cup and pull it towards the rear.  You'll hear and feel a click and the needle will move normally.  I locked mine by accident last year when I pushed the speedometer cable on after having too much red meat!

[bull]

It's locked in ok but the needle bounces like crazy when you slow down and the speed shows about twice the actual speed. I'm guessing none of the previous owners changed out the speedo pinion gear when one of them swapped the stock rear end for a lower set with Sure-grip.

[resq302]

Curtis,

We had this issue with my moms challenger and the cable needed to be lubricated.  That eliminated the bouncing needle.  Dad had put a slightly smaller wall radial tire on the car due to lack of the same sized tires as the bias ply and we needed up increase the tooth count of the speedometer gear in the trans in order slow down the speed of the needle.  If I remember correctly, there is a chart at some link that  you plug in your tire size, gear ratio, and some other stuff and it should tell you the correct gear you will need depending on your set up.

[bull]

Curtis,

We had this issue with my moms challenger and the cable needed to be lubricated.  That eliminated the bouncing needle.  Dad had put a slightly smaller wall radial tire on the car due to lack of the same sized tires as the bias ply and we needed up increase the tooth count of the speedometer gear in the trans in order slow down the speed of the needle.  If I remember correctly, there is a chart at some link that  you plug in your tire size, gear ratio, and some other stuff and it should tell you the correct gear you will need depending on your set up.

I did a little reading on the topic last night and the formula they showed looked like algebra so my brain began to shut down. The  calculator sounds like a good deal though, assuming I can figure the ratio out for certain. I know it's around 3.92.

What did you use to lube the cable with?

[MaximRecoil]

There is a speedometer gear chart here - link.

I need to change my speedometer gear too. I believe the rearend and its gears are stock, but I assume my 1969 318 car would have come with what, F70-14 tires? That would be about a 215-70R14 which is a little less than 26" diameter, and with my 2.71 gears it would have a 28 tooth speedometer gear. I currently have 235-70R15 tires on there, which are about 28" diameter, so I need a 26 tooth speedometer gear.

[resq302]

Curtis,

We had this issue with my moms challenger and the cable needed to be lubricated.  That eliminated the bouncing needle.  Dad had put a slightly smaller wall radial tire on the car due to lack of the same sized tires as the bias ply and we needed up increase the tooth count of the speedometer gear in the trans in order slow down the speed of the needle.  If I remember correctly, there is a chart at some link that  you plug in your tire size, gear ratio, and some other stuff and it should tell you the correct gear you will need depending on your set up.

I did a little reading on the topic last night and the formula they showed looked like algebra so my brain began to shut down. The  calculator sounds like a good deal though, assuming I can figure the ratio out for certain. I know it's around 3.92.

What did you use to lube the cable with?

If I remember right, I sprayed it down where it connects to the speedometer gauge and used either PB Blaster, KRoil, or Boeshield.

[cjw916]

My '68 Charger speedo needle used to be pretty steady up to about 70, then it started 'continuous bouncing' anywhere above that.

My '69 383 Coronet friend at work told me that was lack of cable lube.

I pulled the cable off the quick connect at the back of the speedo one night while under there, grabbed the end of the inside square drive, it came right out as the brass collar was at the top like it should be (I've seen plenty of them upside down, but mostly on motorcycles) coiled it in my hand gently in a 6" circle, soaked it in PB Blaster, fed it back into the cable as I put PB 'down the hole' with it every so often, snapped it back onto the speedo.

It doesn't bounce, not even a bit, up to 125. 

Easiest fix I've ever had on the car. I didn't break a single thing while fixing it!