The guages in my '73 Duster don't work. I changed out the ivr with a solid state one and they still don't work. The circuit board looks good and pass simple tests. Is there a way to test the individual gauges. They register 900 ohms when testing with a meter.

Is this normal?

Check the pins where they meet the traces, they can break off there. I can't remember if they are just staked in or riveted but I do remember mine breaking there.

Also make sure when your inserting the harness connector the female pins aren't being pushed out the back. The female pins may have opened up a little so the fit on the male pins isn't secure.

While I don't know the their resistance offhand, 900 ohms for the stock gas/oil/temp gauges is way, way too high - I'd expect them to be much lower (~50ohms), but I've not measured them lately. I'll try to remember to check my spares tonight.

A common 12V test light connected in place of the sensor will work well for gas, oil, and temp senders. Very roughly, ~10ohms at the sensor is Full/High/Hot and ~70ohms is Empty/Low/Cold. The stock IVR will make the test light blink on & off ~2/sec (after it warms up for ~15 sec) and usually they'll read ~1/2 scale with it - a constant 5V regulator will light the bulb dimly would probably read higher (as the bulb doesn't heat up enough), and I don't know about the RTE ones.

The 2nd side of a dual ballast resistor is 5 ohms, so if you've 2 of those in series you've got your 10ohms.

I'd begin by seeing that you've voltage at the senders and work back from there. Especially check the dash ground when it's installed.

My 1971's fuel/oil/temp all measure about 12 ohms.

Thanks, methinks my gauges may be toast... Now what to do...

Post for a new cluster in the Parts Wanted forum?
Frank

_________________
Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Gauges can be rebuilt, but it requires very delicate work; you might contact AutoInstruments (http://www.autoinstruments.com). They did a great (cosmetic only job) restoring a Fury instrument cluster faceplate for us. Also note that gas/oil/temp share the same internals and if the layout is the same you can put a new decal on to change one to another.