Possible reasons rallye instrument cluster is down

[justanotherguy]

I've got a 73 Satellite with rallye cluster and looking to trouble shoot some of the gauges that don't work. The only working gauges right now are the oil pressure, alt, and fuel. The odometer works as well. I took it to a shop who confirmed power was getting to the gauge cluster, but they weren't knowledgeable with mopar systems and didn't want to work on it any further.

The spedometer seems like it wants to work. The plastic clip is broken off where it plugs into the cluster. When I'm driving around, the needle bounces up and down about a 1/4". I've tried to make sure it's fully seated to see if it's the cable itself or the gauge, but it's made no change on the needle bouncing.

The RPM gauge is down and the needle is stuck at about 2k.

Temp just never warms up. I installed an aftermarket temp gauge for peace of mind.

I will add that the oil pressure gauge typically reads just shy of high.

Is the cluster worth pulling and sending somewhere to get repaired or would it just be easier, albeit more expensive, to swap in a classic dash with autometer gauges.

 

[Demonic]

If the gas gauge works, and the temp does not, it could be a bad sender if it really is cold. With the power on, briefly ground the sending unit wire at the sender, the gauge should sweep full. The speedo likely would need to go out if it is bad. The tach as well. I suppose the answer to you question depends on weather you like stock or aftermarket. I find the cheap gauges are not as good as vintage factory, nor as durable.

 

[Kiwi_Coronet]

Bouncing speedo might be the inner cable binding with the outer sleeve..pull it out and give it a clean

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Is the cluster worth pulling and sending somewhere to get repaired or would it just be easier, albeit more expensive, to swap in a classic dash with autometer gauges.

if you are already thinking on this maybe you don’t have the patiente to deal with a resto job LOL.

if you don’t have the skills to make it by yourself there are several resto shops who dedicate to restore original clusters, not just in their functions but also on their finish and looks.

Meanwhile, we can say you are getting a working order voltage limiter to the gauges because if not, none of the meters (but speedo, tach and ammeter) would work, so I’d begin grounding every one of the sender wires to check for a full sweep to top on everyone. You can ground it with a 10 ohms resistor in line if you want to be sure it stops at the top line mark and not over it.

speedo tipically could be the speedo wire, but also an internal failure. Begin with the speedo wire which is the easier.

tachs usualy get damaged. Repros are available but 8K instead the original 7K reading

and would be nice to check for the ammeter and related parts health (Insulators, studs tighteness or play inside the gauge)

oil gauge could be more the sender than the gauge itself

the temp gauge could be either of the fails, but if the gauge is the bad, fortunatelly is a separated piece from the ammeter (not like the oil/gas which is one piece gauge) and can be found NOS or used around.

 

[justanotherguy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm not abundantly concerned with keeping the car true to form, but if I can fix it easy and keep the oem stuff, I'll be happy.

 

[justanotherguy]

As far as cleaning the speedo cable, is there any reason to not use a little wire wheel attachment on a dremel? Also, could it be the little but threaded onto the end hs shifted causing the cable to not fully seat into the cluster?

 

[Sixpactogo]

I've got a 73 Satellite with rallye cluster and looking to trouble shoot some of the gauges that don't work. The only working gauges right now are the oil pressure, alt, and fuel. The odometer works as well. I took it to a shop who confirmed power was getting to the gauge cluster, but they weren't knowledgeable with mopar systems and didn't want to work on it any further.

The spedometer seems like it wants to work. The plastic clip is broken off where it plugs into the cluster. When I'm driving around, the needle bounces up and down about a 1/4". I've tried to make sure it's fully seated to see if it's the cable itself or the gauge, but it's made no change on the needle bouncing.

You mentioned the plastic clip is broken off the speedo cable. Could this be the problem? I saved this from a Mopar Action Tech article.

 

[Sinitro]

You mentioned the plastic clip is broken off the speedo cable. Could this be the problem? I saved this from a Mopar Action Tech article.

View attachment 1573395

The clip is required... To keep the cable fully inserted into the speedometer.. Sometimes hard to reach up in there and snap in properly..

Just my $0.02...

 

[justanotherguy]

Got a followup dumb question. Are all the rallye gauges electrical minus the speedo?

And I'll bet that missing clip is the issue with my speedometer. Thanks for the replies.

 

[justanotherguy]

And an even dumber followup question, where can I find the sending unit?

 

[Nacho-RT74]

yes, all gauges are electrical minus speedo

sending unit... normally at any regular parts shop. They are still on stock.. Rockauto, Advance, O'Reillys, Napa... Searching also on eBay

 

[justanotherguy]

I meant where is the sending unit located? Like under the dash or attached to the Guage clusters housing on the back side or elsewhere?

 

[Sinitro]

I meant where is the sending unit located? Like under the dash or attached to the Guage clusters housing on the back side or elsewhere?

Sending units for oil pressure & water temperature are located on the engine, sending unit for gas is located in the fuel tank..

Just my $0.02...

 

[justanotherguy]

Sending units for oil pressure & water temperature are located on the engine, sending unit for gas is located in the fuel tank..

Just my $0.02...

Thank you! I'll be investigating this today!

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Oil sender on rear of the block close to transmission belhousing. It gets a gray wire

temp sender in front. If small block, on intake on top. If Big Block on water pump housing close to the alt bracket. It takes a violet wire