fuel and temp gauge not working, melted wire on printed circuit board

[vettedad61]

on my 1972 C10 it has factory gauges and tachometer.

1) when I bought the truck the printed circuit had a melted wire that serves the fuel and temp gauge.

2) I recently did a full restoration of the entire truck, I bought a brand new factory correct harness, new printed circuit board for the gauge cluster, new temp sending unit, new fuel sending unit, etc. the gauges were not replaced.

3) the same wire on the printed circuit behind the cluster melted that serves the fuel and temp gauge.

Can anyone tell me why? or what steps I need to take to fix this?

Thank you!

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by vettedad61

on my 1972 C10 it has factory gauges and tachometer.

1) when I bought the truck the printed circuit had a melted wire that serves the fuel and temp gauge.

2) I recently did a full restoration of the entire truck, I bought a brand new factory correct harness, new printed circuit board for the gauge cluster, new temp sending unit, new fuel sending unit, etc. the gauges were not replaced.

3) the same wire on the printed circuit behind the cluster melted that serves the fuel and temp gauge.

Can anyone tell me why? or what steps I need to take to fix this?

Thank you!

Check the pink wire on the cluster plug for overheat, it is on pin 3. This is very curious because the cluster panel is protected by the 3 amp fuse in the fuse panel labeled .Cluster PNL, Is that fuse blown. if so your fuel and temp gauges should not be working. If the fuel gauge is working and the temp gauge isn't then the temp gauge is grounded or drawing too much current.
That small strip is very fragile and could burn up easily. You can fix it easily by running a small gauge wire between the cluster plug or the fuel gauge and the temperature gauge, but not until you find the short.

Here's a picture of the cluster wiring.



You'll notice the purple wire (copper strip) from the cluster plug feeds the fuel gauge the brake warning light, the temp light (not used on gauge clusters) and the temperature gauge. The brake warning light may also be grounded and frying the copper strip. Does it work with the key on?

you'll need to check the temperature gauge with a multimeter for a short to the gauge body.

[Gromit]

Could it have been from using one of those remote starter switches without first turning the ignition key to the run position? (that is just a guess - others here will know for sure)..

[vettedad61]

Thanks for the info... I will check it out this weekend and let you know what I find!