The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Repairing Gauge Cluster on 1954 3100

In my '54, all the gauges work except for the fuel gauge. In order to replace it I have to take the entire cluster out of the dash. I read somewhere on the vast internet that you have to be extremely careful when handling certain wires/leads/cables/etc back there. Any advice from those that have done it will be greatly appreciated.

brandon_s

If you have already checked your wires and and your sending unit in the gas tank... Made sure they are connected correctly and your gauge is still not working then this is how I removed my cluster ...

First, disconnect your battery... There are two tubes that are hooked up to the gauge cluster, one is for your oil pressure gauge and the other is for your temperature gauge see pic ... The lower one in the pic is the oil pressure gauge and that one can be disconnected... The center is the is for your temperature gauge, this one you need to be careful not to damage it... Before you remove the cluster you will need to disconnect the temperature sensor on your engine head... I think I remove the wires before I took out the cluster just be sure to tale pictures before you remove them... Then you can remove the cluster from the dash, there are 3 nuts that hold it on, I think they were 3/8" ... Just remember to be careful with the temperature gauge tube... After I removed the cluster I lowered it on to a towel on the floorboard then started feeding the tube through the firewall... I had to remove the gourmet on the firewall to get the temperature sensor through... It is a easier job if you are lucky enough to have a 2 nd person to help you...

Thanks for the info!!

Hello,
I need to replace the temperature gauge/sensor on my 1954 3100. The part I ordered is for the first series and the gauge is wired to the sensor as one piece. As I looked under the dash it's not clear to me how I remove the old gauge and replace with the new one once I remove the cluster gauge from the dash.. From the message above it sounds like I'm not supposed to remove anything from the gauge. Any guidance on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

Panchos54, The temperature gauge and sensor are connected by a small diameter tube. You can't disconnect the tube without destroying the gauge. You need to fish the sensor and tubing thru the firewall and attach the gauge in the cluster. You'll likely need to remove the grommet at the firewall to give you enough room to get the sensor bulb through the hole. The grommet should have a split in it to allow you to slip the tube into the center of the grommet then replace the grommet in the firewall after you get the tube routed.

Kevin, Thank you, this is helpful. I am referring to where you reference attaching the gauge to the cluster. When I look at the base, there are two screws that hold a tab in place behind the temperature gauge. Where I am not clear, is that process. Hopefully I'm not overlooking something obvious. I'm sure you've seen it but I can send a picture. So my question is are there instructions on dealing with the gauge in the cluster. Thanks,

Here's a pic where the temp gauge attaches to the cluster. The bulb and capillary tube have to be threaded through the square hole, then the studs go thru the holes on either side of the square hole. Once the gauges are in place and the glass and bezel reinstalled, then the whole cluster gets installed in the dash from the back with 4 nuts on the studs that are welded behind the dash.

Brandon...........the careful part is just standard practice stuff.
1. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
2. Don't muscle the old gauges and wires......be gentle until you can see everything on the bench or seat or lap. Old wires and terminals and gauges are brittle from age. Don't bump the very thin gauge wires or the needle.
3. Notice and mark where wires came off of and be sure new gauge has markings on terminals.
4. Replace anything that looks like it needs replaced.

Gas gauges problems are a 10 times more posted here than any other gauge. 10 times harder to troubleshoot. The good news is there are plenty of posts about them.

Thank you Kevin and Bartamos - Very helpful information. Looks like I will need to handle this work with surgical hands. I will follow your collective guidance.

Here is the pic from the back of my gauge cluster. There's writing on it that has a date of 6-15-02. Before I got this truck a high school class worked on it, I don't think it's the original gauge cluster but not totally sure. I'm guessing then that there is a round hole or square behind the tab where the two nuts are that hold the temp gauge wire in place.

Let me know if you see anything that I should take further consideration on and again, appreciate greatly all of your help.

Whoever worked on that gauge cluster previously did good. Noting where the hot wire goes on the gas gauge. See the attached pics.

Thanks Kevin for taking the time to provide the pictures and additional guidance. I really appreciate it.
Regards,
Victor

A year later, I finally made time to work on replacing my temperature gauge. I decided to first start by fishing the sensor through the firewall and I replaced the old with the new in the engine. I left the gauge side loose and I temporarily set the gauge on a milk crate until I could get to replacing it in the gauge cluster. I fired up the truck and drove it around and to my surprise this gauge needle also moves close to H similar to what the old gauge did. As a refresh, I replaced the radiator cap, the thermostat, removed and inspected the water pump and used an infrared thermometer to measure the water temperature and all was fine. I had concluded that it was either the sensor and/or gauge that was bad. The only thing I could think of is that there might be a grounding issue. Any guidance on where to go next? I'm stumped. I know I could replace this with an actual numerical gauge that tells me the correct temp, but I want to stick with the original look. Thanks in advance for your help.

It wouldn't be a grounding issue, because the temperature gauge is a strictly mechanical gauge. The bulb contains a fluid that changes pressure with temperature and the temperature gauge measures and displays that pressure (as temperature.) Did you have the new gauge in a similar position to how it would sit in the cluster? It might be affected by position, but I would think that would be a pretty minimal affect,

Pancho, some of your wording is not clear to me as to if you have an electrical temp gauge or a mechanical. Also "moves close to H" is not clear as to how close, which hash mark and how long motor runs till it moves "close" to H.

Post pics of the sender in motor and post pic of where needle is when "close" to H.

klhansen - It is not sitting in the same position. It is secured to the dash with a tie wrap and it is dangling and it has the cardboard backing. I will post pictures.

Bartamos - It is a mechanical gauge. I will post a couple of pictures and the description.

Thank you both for your help,

Hello,

Here are 3 pictures. The first is at startup of the truck, the second picture (midpoint) is while driving after 3 minutes. The last picture is at 5 minutes.
As I was watching the dial move, it did jump from about 1/4 of the way to the halfway point at 3 minutes.