My Battery Gauge doesnt work.

[71stub]

I just swapped from dummy lights to gauges and I swapped cab harness' from the old truck to mine and all my other gauges work but my battery gauge doesnt move. I did not swap engine harness' with the parts truck. Is this the reason why? Do I need to swap engine harness' also? Is there a way to test the gauge itself using the two studs on the back? Thanks for the help.

[724x4a/cchevy]

Join the club. Mine hasn't worked since I've owned the truck. The gauge is just an amp meater im pretty sure. Tells you if the battery is charging or discharging depending on flow path from the alt to the battery. whatevery you do, dont try to put + and - on the back of the gauge. Its not that type of gauge. Its a flow gauge. It tells which way the electrical path is going (C or D) and how much (amps)
Justin

[72armyswbtruck]

There is an FAQ, on here that has a diagram that shows which terminals to change on the harness to make the idiot light to full guage cluster work correctly. I will try and see if I can find it.

[71stub]

That would be great because i have searched the entire harness and cannot find a short or bare wire or anything and everything else in the gauge package works now.

[68gmsee]

As menitoned above, don't introduce 12 volts with ground to the meter. Ammeters are always connected in series with the circuit being tested.

Mine didn't work until I resolved some grounding issues I had. Makes sure all your engine and cab grounds are good before doing a lot of swapping. Check the ground from battery to the block and the cab to the frame or block to make sure they're clean and tight. I would even add a ground strap just to prevent any future problems. They're cheap.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=284861

[68gmsee]

This was a duplcate post... Don't know how it got in there.

[hvychve]

Like most had mentioned, its not a volt meter , but rather amps (current) Voltage is a 12 volt supply and uses a chassis ground of some sort, but with an amp gauge (like these are) The gauge is in series, meaning your main battery feed wire runs through this gauge, I have checked many with , whats called an inductive pickup , that messures amperage flow, inductive , because it can be unlimited and it wont destroy the meter, if you use leads , you must have your meter be hooked up in series just like the gauge your talking about, and if the fuse for the meter isnt rated high enough it will Pop, some meters , like Fluke , have an expensive fuse, thats why inductive testing is easier and wont hurt anything, if you have access to an inductive, run engine with probe around your wire going or coming from gauge and turn on heavy load such as all lights, blower and whatever else and see if you amperage output changes, if it does, most likely gauge issues, if it doesnt, I would be lookn at wiring from gauge to supply of alternator or whereever you are picking up battery feed..

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by 72armyswbtruck

There is an FAQ, on here that has a diagram that shows which terminals to change on the harness to make the idiot light to full guage cluster work correctly. I will try and see if I can find it.

Is this the one?

http://www.gmcpaulstruckparts.com/Tech%20Tips1.htm

[72zz4]

There is a fuse in line to the gage should be just above the driver side head light it is a inline fuse

[71stub]

I checked and my doesnt have that fuse but the other engine harness i have has it. Apparently when you swap from dummy lights to a gauge package you must swap both the cab and engine harness from the donor truck. Thanks for the help guys. The inline fuse is located in a black wire with a white stripe for anybodys future reference.

[1970cstblazer]

Reminder:

There are TWO fuses for the ammeter. They are on each end of the radiator support. They take the short glass 4 amp fuses that can be found at your local Autozone.