gauge cluster wiring

[dave m]

hi when I bought my car as a basket case it had the gauge update from the lights.  I have been told they had to move wires on the cluster plug????  my gas gauge has not worked since I finished the car I want to double check everything . I am hoping some one can tell me the colors of wires and the positions on the plug or #s position  I am also changing the amp to a volt gauge so I need to remove these wires from the plug I can not find any info that tells me what color wires are for what gauges   thanks in advance

[jft69z]

This came with the AAW wiring harness. Maybe it will help you see the differences between the 2 types of instrument cluster wiring. The one page shows the connectors, labeled 'with Warning Lights', and the other 'With Gauges'. That should help you figure out what goes where.

gauge wiring.pdf gauge wiring1.pdf

[Paul Bell]

A few wires needed to be moved to other plug locations. Here it is:

[dave m]

 wow thanks that is what I needed.   I can not believe I have been searching for a month I bought 2 different diagrams   and asked many Chevelle  sites and gauge co.  you guys answered in 2 hours    thank again  dave

[Rob Peters]

Welcome Back Dave

rob

[dave m]

hi I am trying to change my amp gauge to volt  paul I noticed back in 2019 you posted that you do/did this.   one of the reasons I asked for the wiring  which is great...  I bought my gauge from sonnie on ebay the co you listed is out of stock could not tell me when avial again.   the gauge has metal threaded mounting to bolt in factory location.  I am going to remove the amp wires from the plug .   he says ground through the panel and put the jumper wire to the 12v side of the tach  I also plan to use nylon nuts and washers to mount CAN I OR SHOULD I CUT THE AMP PORTION OF THE CIRCUIT BOARD AWAY ?????  thanks in advance        also no luck at this point  getting the fuel gauge to work

[Paul Bell]

David, I haven't done this mod but it looks pretty simple.

Cut in the harness the contact 3 wire (black/white) and splice it to the pink wire (this becomes hot when the key is on).

Cut in the harness the contact 4 wire (black) and ground it somewhere.

After doing this, make sure the + terminal on the new volt meter goes to the spot on the flex circuit board that reads power when the key is on.

[dave m]

thanks i'll try that  not at all like the directions.  but much better then I planed   my next prob is gauge is not marked.   I thought I would check it with a 9 v transitor battery

  I think a reverse hook up the gauge would not read.  or try to get updated info from shift works  and buy one from them

[jft69z]

14 minutes ago, dave m said:

...from shift works  and buy one from them

As of a number of months ago, Shiftworks didn't have any of them available, and weren't making them. The owner had a line on someone in India that was making a prototype, but no idea when it would be available. I tried all the places that advertised, but they all get them drop shipped from shiftworks. It may be worth a call directly to them to see if they're available now. If you do call, let us know what you find, thx.

[dave m]

  hi  I did call shift work weeks ago same response sold out they do not even have any further info  or not willing to guess.   I did buy mine from sonny 24 on eBay  but until you gave me the wiring changes I was afraid to use it.  he had me cutting the circuit board.   the gauge is correct in looks and does work when tested out of car.        waiting to see if I can figure out the fuel gauge problem starting at the tank before I pull the cluster.  I was trying to get it all done before a show on may 23   but that has now been cancelled.  our weather has also not been ideal either rain cold or wind  t  have to put my truck out to be able to work on the monte   I love my cars but I not the best at cleaning and detailing

thanks again dave

[jft69z]

Thanks for the follow-up about Shiftworks. I ended up with a whole new dash from Dakota Digital because I didn't want to wait indefinitely for them to get the voltmeters. The other option to send the amp gauge out to get repurposed to a voltmeter didn't make sense in the long run in my particular case either (would have needed to come up with something for the speedo to work as well with the newer transmission).

[Paul Bell]

That's really the best thing to do with these cars, if you can afford it and it's not a dead stock show car. This is a mod that can be undone so it doesn't impact the car's value.

The Digital Dakota system is pretty amazing. It not only brings modern instrumentation to our cars, the options are almost endless.

You can set alarms for just about any out of range reading, volt, oil, water, etc. They offer inline current monitoring that can monitor anything-like let's say an electric water pump. If it blows the fuse the displayed amps go to zero. GPS for speedo, vacuum, exhaust AFR, tire pressure, etc.

[jft69z]

The main selling point to get the D/D dash was the ability to interface with the Holley FI to display AFR, fuel pressure, transmission data, speedo info electronically, etc. It still remains to be seen if it all works as designed, but on paper it sounds good. Hopefully after I get out of the lockdown here at work, I can finish up the wiring and put power to a few things to see how things play with each other to some degree.

[dave m]

 Some progress        I did determine that  the fuel sender is working.  the wire from front to back for the gauge seems ok   I forgot I had to take the dash out to get the cluster.  found the 5 easy bolts/ pillars  both sides /  center top/  I am guessing there is another center bottom??   I am hoping to be able to just tilt the dash enough to get at the cluster easy enough???  big hands and big body to match make it interesting to get in tight spaces. also when I built the car I already had the interior out and it had no radio or ac.   so how many bolts and where is the last one hiding       thanks Dave

[Leghome]

My 72 had a bolt near the steering column that I had to drop the column to get to.

[Paul Bell]

This might help: https://www.ss396.com/pdf_catalog/tech/ssdash/1970-1972_chevelle_dash.pdf

[dave m]

thanks that should help.  it looks like I missed 2 bolts  I don't remember it being this hard ten years ago  but then I was only in my 50s  does anybody know how to tell the tan wire for fuel or tan for brake  I hoping that's  my problem.   also anyone know of good stereo dash replacement speakers  I am running a small amp.  rather hear the car then the stereo but since its apart I guess I should fix them to .  ( paul I just red your occupation I guess you'll know )

[Paul Bell]

If you meter the tan wire to ground, if it shows open on an Ohmmeter when the brake pedal is up, grounded when it's down, it's the brake light wire.

If it reads 0 to 90 Ohms and doesn't change when you press the brake pedal, it's the fuel sender wire.

 

I used this 4 x 6 Aura two way speaker with a very small neodymium magnet:

https://www.parts-express.com/aura-4600rpm-4x6-2-way-coaxial-speaker-pair--269-179

Pry off the magnet's plastic cover and this speaker will clear everything in the dash. At this size, they don't provide super sound but you'll have cruising tunes.

In car audio, these small speakers (up to 6 x 9) don't need to be more than two way. Three way or more is just a waste.

[dave m]

UPDATE  just got the cluster out    ya  reading from the fuel sender to the cluster plug.  when I got the cluster out there is no connection to the bottom terminal of the gauge on the circuit board.  next time out I want to check for pos and ground at the gauge the run a jumper to that bottom terminal.  if I get that working I will start on the volt gauge  that should be a snap.   Paul if you read this  thanks  the speaker are discontinued   I am looking at a pair of kicker  but like you said magnet size is the issue

dave