Just Send It
Well-Known Member
1963 Dodge 330
The gas gauge in my car has never worked. The guy I bought it from said it hasn't worked since he bought it in 91'. So let's assume this thing hasn't functioned in roughly 40 years.
Today that changes....
I'm rewiring the entire car over this Winter, and part of that process is undoing the impressive amount of electrical cobblery behind the firewall. It's a damn mess back there! Since the cluster was out anyway, I carefully took it apart and started inspecting the guages.
After putting my extra strength bifocals on and shining the brightest light I have, I noticed that one side of the coiled wires had snapped off the post.
I checked the resistance on the remaining wire to make 100% there wasn't another break where the wire is coiled. Thankfully the rest of the wire was solid!
I've never taken one of these apart before so I wasn't prepared for just how thin of a gauge that wire is. It's like the width of a hair and it's SUPER fragile.
I busted out the smallest soldering tip I had and went to work.
After a bunch of cuss words and detaching my retina staring at this wire while the soldering iron was heating up, I was able to make a good bond.
Moment of truth. A few Hail Mary's later, I had my wife hit the juice to the battery as I twisted the key.
Sucker works! The curse is lifted. I'm stoked.
The gas gauge in my car has never worked. The guy I bought it from said it hasn't worked since he bought it in 91'. So let's assume this thing hasn't functioned in roughly 40 years.
Today that changes....
I'm rewiring the entire car over this Winter, and part of that process is undoing the impressive amount of electrical cobblery behind the firewall. It's a damn mess back there! Since the cluster was out anyway, I carefully took it apart and started inspecting the guages.
After putting my extra strength bifocals on and shining the brightest light I have, I noticed that one side of the coiled wires had snapped off the post.
I checked the resistance on the remaining wire to make 100% there wasn't another break where the wire is coiled. Thankfully the rest of the wire was solid!
I've never taken one of these apart before so I wasn't prepared for just how thin of a gauge that wire is. It's like the width of a hair and it's SUPER fragile.
I busted out the smallest soldering tip I had and went to work.
After a bunch of cuss words and detaching my retina staring at this wire while the soldering iron was heating up, I was able to make a good bond.
Moment of truth. A few Hail Mary's later, I had my wife hit the juice to the battery as I twisted the key.
Sucker works! The curse is lifted. I'm stoked.
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