[Stepside_TimberWolf]

I recently stripped my 87 dodge for parts for my 83 short stepside. one of the things i salvaged was the dash panel. in my 83, i only had the oil light and temp light. the 87 had actual gages. a few days ago, i switched out my dashes, and looking at the circut boards, saw that they were the same. also, the plugs fit just fine in the back. i switched them out and.....nothing. speedo, battery, and fuel gages are all fine, but the temp and oil do noting. the oil needle spikes when you start the truck, and the temp needle just lays there. i took the engine sensors out of my 87 and switched them with the 83. still nothing. i noticed my temp gage start working last night, but my oil is still being bitchy. any ideas? i really dont want to get into the wiring.

 

[Ram]

Before the dash's were swapped, did your Temp and Oil lights work properly? If so, do you know if the Temp and Oil Gauge from the doner dash of the 87 work properly when they were used last? If not then you may have a bad gauge or have to tighten the nut's on the back side of the circuit panel of the dash that the gauges go through. Or you may have a ground, or bulkhead wiring problem or a bad sender!

 

[Bogie]

You probally need to swap out the sending units. Im betting there diffrent

 

[magnum360]

so you went from an oil light to a gauge and you did change to the gauge sending unit right? that would be the frist thing i'd check.,

 

[TaZMaNiaK]

The light "senders" are just on/off switches to ground. Temp only grounds over I think 210o and the oil one is grounded until the pressure goes over 10psi or so, then it opens. If you had the ignition on with the engine not running for more than a couple seconds, the oil gauge probably fried, because it's not meant to have a direct ground. Or if it didn't fry, it will go all the way to high until the pressure goes up enough to cut off the switch, then it will read zero. Since the temp switch is normally open the gauge will do nothing unless you overheat, then it will peg all the way hot, and burn out the gauge. The gauge senders vary the resistance to ground based on the temperature or pressure, but most of the time the resistance will not be zero (full ground). Even on the highest pressure/highest temerature, there is still some resistance in the sender so the gauge does not burn out. you need to get the gauge style senders for your 83. The '87 oil unit should be a combination light/gauge switch with a goofy connector. If not, you can get one for an 88+, and you can have a light and gauge (your '87 cluster should have an oil light too, under the Maint Req'd light. It's not on the circuit board, but a snap-in socket like your gate light). Just go to the junkyard and get the connector and bulb socket, hook up one leg of the bulb to IGN power, and the other leg to the SWITCH side of the combo unit. I hate idiot lights by themselves, but it's nice to have one with a gauge because it screams "Yo, Idiot, look at the gauge!!"

Matt {peace}

 

[Stepside_TimberWolf]

thanks taz. the oil gage does spike to H then after the truck is warm goes down to L. i replaced the sensors tin the engine, but i'll still try it. thanks

 

[Dodgebreath]

On a related topic,I have no reading on my 87"s ammeter gauge.It never fluctuates,steady as a rock in the middle of the gauge.Everything works fine tho,any ideas?

 

[89on35s]

Tighten the nuts on the back of the guage. Had the same prob on my 89.