1986 Gauges don't seem right...help!

[stang1986GT]

In my '86, my oil pressure and temp gauges would sometimes start creeping up (at the same time) towards about 3/4 of the way up the gauge for no reason. Then after about 10 or 15 minutes, they would both come back down to normal. I thought there may be something funky with the cluster, so I bought a recalibrated 140 mph cluster with white face overlays, and it still does the same thing. Any ideas?

Also, as I said, I now have the 140 mph cluster, but it reads 5mph too fast (not a big deal, at least it doesn't read slow). Is there any way I can fix this? Keep in mind I currently have 2.73 gears and I plan to install 3.73 gears sometime next hear. Any help is appreciated.

DW

 

[joelliott]

There an "IVR" Instrument Voltage Regulator in the dash I think behing the gauges that controlls alot of the dash electrical functions. They go bad and cause alot of wierd gauge problems. The stock gauges are all electrical. Unfortunately! So htey are not the most relaible. Our stangs are know for electrical glitches. I finally fot tired of it and got mechanical water temp, oil pressure, and a aftermarket volt gauge. Alot better readings. I can trust what Im seein now. Might wanna look into something similar.

For the speedo, if your unit is calibrated wrong there is not much you can do about it. How do you know the new speedo is off? What method did you use to figure it? Also when you go to a different gear ratio ( I went from 2.73 to 3.45 and its an awsome mod) I replaced the speedo gear on the tranny. Its a PITA to do but not hard. So your figures might be able to add the already 5 mph difference into a different speedo gear. However itd be complex to do. I cant do it. lol. Good Luck
Joe E.

 

[txstang84]

good point Joe, i never really paid attention to my stock water, and oil gages...i knew they were crap at best...

my new Phantoms are elec also, but they are not wired through anything other than power supply, sensor feed, and ground and they work like a champ, the oil pressure gage is quick response and accurate based on the one i used to have that was mechanical (had to take it out, no matter how many times I tried, i'd get a slight oil lk on the gage)

and the water temp is the same way...

for the speedo, they should be cal'd the same way; a given number of rev/mile, but, as mentioned you're going to go with 373's here in the not too distant future, just be sure to get the right speedo gear then, and you should be right on, if not really close...

 

[noslow86]

yeah mine too

mine does the same thing it really piss me off i cant figure it out yet unless the gauges are crappy

 

[slow84lx]

If one of your ground wires is bad your gauge readings will move a lot. As stated already the stock gauges aren't all that good.

 

[stang1986GT]

good point Joe, i never really paid attention to my stock water, and oil gages...i knew they were crap at best...

my new Phantoms are elec also, but they are not wired through anything other than power supply, sensor feed, and ground and they work like a champ, the oil pressure gage is quick response and accurate based on the one i used to have that was mechanical (had to take it out, no matter how many times I tried, i'd get a slight oil lk on the gage)

and the water temp is the same way...

for the speedo, they should be cal'd the same way; a given number of rev/mile, but, as mentioned you're going to go with 373's here in the not too distant future, just be sure to get the right speedo gear then, and you should be right on, if not really close...

Yea, I've heard from many many people that the gauges aren't good. Where did you mount your replacement gauges? I guess I'll have to bite the bullett and get some good gauges.

Mine only seem to be screwy for a while. It's like when everything gets to operating temperature and then some, everything settles in.

I'll be sure to check the ground wire as somone else suggested. Where is it for the gauges?

 

[286 rocks]

All the fords I have seem to have bad guage clusters, in my stang the water temp doesn't even work and my oil pressure sits right above the red and barely moves at all.

 

[joelliott]

Alittle late I know. But

I had electric water temp and volt gauges for about a year. I found that the temp sensor for the water gauge didnt enter very far into the water passage. So it wasnt real accurate. I decided to go with mechanical gauges in a dual pillar pod. The Autometer quality seems to be superb. Id highly recomend using their stuff. I can watch my mech oil pressure gauge cruise steady. And watch my stock gauge moving around. My stock temp gauge doent even run. So yeah the stock gauges are not really to be trusted. If ou value your stang at all, get at least a water temp and oil pressure gauge. Cover the major issues, oil and water, and if you have extra cash then worry about volt, speedo, etc. Good Luck
Joe E.

 

[stang1986GT]

Alittle late I know. But

I had electric water temp and volt gauges for about a year. I found that the temp sensor for the water gauge didnt enter very far into the water passage. So it wasnt real accurate. I decided to go with mechanical gauges in a dual pillar pod. The Autometer quality seems to be superb. Id highly recomend using their stuff. I can watch my mech oil pressure gauge cruise steady. And watch my stock gauge moving around. My stock temp gauge doent even run. So yeah the stock gauges are not really to be trusted. If ou value your stang at all, get at least a water temp and oil pressure gauge. Cover the major issues, oil and water, and if you have extra cash then worry about volt, speedo, etc. Good Luck
Joe E.

Makes sense. So I assume that you just let your stock gauges sit in the cluster dead now that you have replacements? Also, was it a pain to run wiring for the new gauges? Happen to have pics of your setup?