Hi all,

My 63 Dart GT which is my daily driver is in good but not great condition. For about 6000 miles all the electrical has been OK except for the fuel and temperature gauges which both indicate about 30% too low. Threads on your site and the 63 Dart Service Manual and my mechanic friend all agree that the voltage limiter inside the fuel gauge is probably the problem. However, until some kind soul sells me a known good fuel gauge I've been content to drive the old warhorse as is -- filling the gas tank on even hundreds and sticking a meat thermometer into the radiator every couple of months. Could be it's just a loose connection since three times during the past year both gauges worked perfectly for 2 or 3 hours after maybe I hit the right bump.

Anyway, last week after a dark but not very stormy night I drove off in a light drizzle and as usual turned on my noisy defroster fan at low speed for about 15 minutes while driving about 5 miles through stop and go traffic before parking at Safeway. Five minutes later the car started right up, but the radio, defroster blower, turn signals, fuel gauge and temperature gauge would not work at all. Everything else was OK -- headlights, tail lights, dome light and ammeter. The battery had 12.8 volts with engine off and 14.5 volts at fast idle. I forgot to check the windshield wipers.

Afraid of getting stranded, I drove straight home and parked the car and confirmed that the radio and etc were still not working. Amazingly, the next morning everything was working OK, i.e, as before, with the fuel and temperature gauges indicating low and the defroster as noisy as ever.

So, what the heck happened?

This sunny morning I drove the car again for a mile with the radio and defroster and etc all working. I'm hoping that some wires just got wet and dried off overnight, but all this happened in a drizzle and not in a downpour which this car has been in many times during the past couple of years so I'm baffled.

If it happens again, what should I check?

Zweistein

The mean fault, several electrical components at the same time, there could be a false contact in the fuse terminals, these are under the dash, a fuse line feeds into their various components such as radio, cigarettes lighter and Courtesy light in the ceiling are in a single fuse. In the first-generation Valiants 60 to 62 are only three and the third 67-71 to have a box of ten fuses, I suggest you disconnect the battery (to prevent damage under functional components of the board or your person), and wipe the contact surfaces of each fuse, because otherwise the failure will continue to occur, and unfortunately always at the wrong moment. I hope this will solve your problem. Greetings
<img src='http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3329/valiantacapulcomotor225.th.jpg' border='0'/>

With respect to the failure of the meters, this is a failure of the integrated power regulator on the board, regulators lose their characteristics of resistance and not properly feed the board, on the forum we find the council to replace the original controller integrated into the instrument panel for an external one of 68 Valiant that bridges the original, an excellent solution.
<img src='http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3329/valiantacapulcomotor225.th.jpg' border='0'/>

I'd also unplug and inspect the bulkhead connectors for corrosion - a very common problem that can be quite intermittent.

This happens every 5 years or so on my 1963 Dart GT.

When starting the car the ignition switch does not automatically return to the position necessary to run these components.

Replace the switch, problem solved, for a few more years.

--Walt Jackson
1963 Dodge Dart GT hardtop & convertible.