Temp gauge pegged full hot? Here is the fix

[TBONE1964]

It has been covered before but I thought I would cover it again. It has come to my attention with some of my cluster builds that the temp gauge is pegging full hot once installed.

For this reason, I have changed my method of testing gauges for cluster builds.

If you test a temp gauge out of the cluster, you have to ground the lower center terminal on the gauge. Once the gauge is installed in the tin and then into the cluster, the gauge relies on grounding through the tin. From the factory, they used a one way push on retainer that had two purposes. It held the gauge in place for assembly and also it acted as a ground from the gauge to the tin.

Once the cluster is installed in the dash and the connector pluged in, it is possible that the gauge will peg full hot because the lower center terminal is not grounded.

The simple fix is to make a short ground strap and install it as shown in the photo I have attached. It can be made of 14 gauge wire with eyelets on both ends or a short braided ground strap. With either option the eyelet size is a #6.

Please let me know if you have any questions on this. I understand it has been discussed and covered in the past but wanted to update this.

All of my future cluster builds will include this ground wire to prevent any issues after cluster installation.

Take care,
Tom