ELECTRICAL PROBLEM!!

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Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
1,262
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Location
Bluffton, SC
My Car
73 Mustang Coupe
All,

I need some help/advise. I installed a new instrument cluster circuit board and voltage regulator which I ordered from CJ Pony parts. The circuit board is NOT working as it should. I'm not sure if my car's wiring is chopped up or the circuit board isn't wired correctly. It is definitely different than my previous one. I had to move where the voltage regulator was screwed in and it wasn't wired for the high beam indicator light. Here is the weird part... with both turn signal bulbs installed (non LED), the lights don't work unless I use the turn signals, and they flash on and off with the turn signal lights. If I take out the right turn signal bulb the lights work, even if the light switch is NOT on. I'm looking for opinions. Is the circuit board the problem or my car's wiring?? I don't want to go back at CJPony parts if I don't have a leg to stand on. The lights DID work properly with the old circuit board until it gave out, they were just very dim.

I also installed new white gauges which I ordered from whitegauges.net. I'm still getting used to them, but I do like the change.

20140308_150654.jpg

Does anyone know where to get new bulb sockets for the two bulbs in the center dash cluster and the console clock?

20140309_094756.jpg

 
Do you have a picture of the back side of your instrument cluster? One thing I would wonder is if you maybe got a printed circuit for a non-tach car, they are different. Not sure though! Just speculation

 
did you buy the correct circuit board? there are 2 one is for idiot lights the other is for tach.

you may have a secondary issue with the front turn signals. Remove the front turn signal light bulbs and see if your issues go away, if they do then your

front turn signal buckets have rusted shorts to ground, they are hard to fix better to replace if possible.

you might just be shorting on one side so first remove the bulbs and retest, then install one bulb and see which side has the short.

both were shorting in my car.

 
Do you have a picture of the back side of your instrument cluster? One thing I would wonder is if you maybe got a printed circuit for a non-tach car, they are different. Not sure though! Just speculation
MechEng,

Thanks... I ordered this one from CJPony Parts:

http://www.cjponyparts.com/instrument-cluster-circuit-board-with-tachometer-1971-1973/p/DCB4/

I guess they could have sent me the wrong one. Pete



did you buy the correct circuit board? there are 2 one is for idiot lights the other is for tach.

you may have a secondary issue with the front turn signals. Remove the front turn signal light bulbs and see if your issues go away, if they do then your

front turn signal buckets have rusted shorts to ground, they are hard to fix better to replace if possible.

you might just be shorting on one side so first remove the bulbs and retest, then install one bulb and see which side has the short.

both were shorting in my car.
Thanks 72HCODE,

Yes, I did get the correct one, see my reply to MechEng.

I will try what you suggested tonight, hope it is that simple. Thanks again... Pete

 
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If the printed circuit is different from the one you removed, something is amiss:

1) You bought (or at least recieved) the wrong new part

2) Someone has changed your original printed circuit before you were there to a different circuit and modified the wiring to work with the wrong circuit.

3) Someone installed a different cluster and used the wrong circuit to hook it up.

The replacement printed circuits look EXACTLY like the originals...if yours is different, something ain't right...

Also, polish those little blue diffuser cups before you reassemble the dash clusters. Yours look a little cloudy. And the interior of the clusters look brown/ tan and dingy...years of degradation that will reduce the light thrown onto your gauges, making it difficult to see them. Take the time now: Dissassemble and clean the cluster cases, repaint them flat white and reassemble. Makes a WORLD of difference.

 
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What I'm wondering is if you have a car that was originally a Non-Tach car and someone added the tachometer at a later date. So you ordered the Tach board thinking it was right for your car when you really needed a Non-Tach one. Easiest way to tell is to look at your connector that is plugging into the cluster and count the number of contacts on each side.

Tach Car:

6 Contacts per side

Non-Tach Car:

9 Contacts per side

Let us know!

 
What I'm wondering is if you have a car that was originally a Non-Tach car and someone added the tachometer at a later date. So you ordered the Tach board thinking it was right for your car when you really needed a Non-Tach one. Easiest way to tell is to look at your connector that is plugging into the cluster and count the number of contacts on each side.

Tach Car:

6 Contacts per side

Non-Tach Car:

9 Contacts per side

Let us know!
MechEng is right: although there are two options for circuit cards, they are not, repeat, not interchangeable due to the dash cluster connector width.

I have searched high and low for the correct center console dash lamp sockets without success. However, any 65, 67 and 68 two wire lamp socket will work as they have plastic clips that hold the socket in place. The originals have tabs that require you to insert and turn to lock; the thickness between the tab and the back plate is unique to this console.

 
If the printed circuit is different from the one you removed, something is amiss:

1) You bought (or at least recieved) the wrong new part

2) Someone has changed your original printed circuit before you were there to a different circuit and modified the wiring to work with the wrong circuit.

3) Someone installed a different cluster and used the wrong circuit to hook it up.

The replacement printed circuits look EXACTLY like the originals...if yours is different, something ain't right...

Also, polish those little blue diffuser cups before you reassemble the dash clusters. Yours look a little cloudy. And the interior of the clusters look brown/ tan and dingy...years of degradation that will reduce the light thrown onto your gauges, making it difficult to see them. Take the time now: Dissassemble and clean the cluster cases, repaint them flat white and reassemble. Makes a WORLD of difference.
Hey Kit,

Thanks for the great advise. Like I said, the new one was different than the old one, unfortunately I threw the old one away. MechEng's second response definitely has me thinking. I'm looking at all the pictures I took while doing this. All the other gauges had a ford part number stamped or printed on them, except for the tach. Maybe this is a rocketman tach that the PO added. It did not look stock, it looked like someone had done some "customization" on that side of the cluster. My Marti report was no help. Looks like I'll be taking the cluster out one more time and I'll take your advise on cleaning things up and repainting in there. Thanks again... Pete



What I'm wondering is if you have a car that was originally a Non-Tach car and someone added the tachometer at a later date. So you ordered the Tach board thinking it was right for your car when you really needed a Non-Tach one. Easiest way to tell is to look at your connector that is plugging into the cluster and count the number of contacts on each side.

Tach Car:

6 Contacts per side

Non-Tach Car:

9 Contacts per side

Let us know!
MechEng,

I think you may be onto something. It did look like someone had done some "customization" on that side of cluster. And all the other gauges had a ford part number stamped or printed on them, except for the tach. I don't have a picture of the plug that plugged into the cluster so I can't be sure until I take it out again. It is a pretty wide plug so I'm thinking it did have 9 contacts on each side. I should be able to get it out this weekend and check.

Thanks so much for this assist, I wouldn't have thought of that and I don't have the experience to know what I should have been looking for.

I'll let you know what I find out!!

We should do a version of "Stump the Chump" on this site. There is a show on NPR called Car Talk, it is pretty funny, only cool show on NPR. You call for advice, they give you advice on how to fix your problem, then they call you back and see if their advise helped.



What I'm wondering is if you have a car that was originally a Non-Tach car and someone added the tachometer at a later date. So you ordered the Tach board thinking it was right for your car when you really needed a Non-Tach one. Easiest way to tell is to look at your connector that is plugging into the cluster and count the number of contacts on each side.

Tach Car:

6 Contacts per side

Non-Tach Car:

9 Contacts per side

Let us know!
MechEng is right: although there are two options for circuit cards, they are not, repeat, not interchangeable due to the dash cluster connector width.

I have searched high and low for the correct center console dash lamp sockets without success. However, any 65, 67 and 68 two wire lamp socket will work as they have plastic clips that hold the socket in place. The originals have tabs that require you to insert and turn to lock; the thickness between the tab and the back plate is unique to this console.
This was a MIDLIFE CRISIS... I'm sure you've heard that before. Thanks, I'm going to follow Kit and MechEng's advice and see what I come up with. I also looked all over for those sockets, thanks! I really had no idea they are interchangeable with the earlier year Mustangs.

 
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The stock tach did not have idiot lights around the circumferance, as the factory tach package included the three auxilliary gauges...precluding the need for idiot lights.

I think the rocketman conversion uses a custom combo tach/ idiot light gauge face for those that want a tach but do not have or want the three other auxilliary gauges.

If your tach has four red idiot lights around the edges, it aint' stock!

disregard...I just looked at your tach picture agaqin...No idiot lights!

 
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What really clued me in was your comment about the voltage regulator. They're mounted in different spots on the two different versions of the circuit. So your mounting issues make sense.

Midlife, any chance you know what thickness is required? I assume it's different from the dash cluster bulb sockets. Is it thicker or thinner?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 
The stock tach did not have idiot lights around the circumferance, as the factory tach package included the three auxilliary gauges...precluding the need for idiot lights.

I think the rocketman conversion uses a custom combo tach/ idiot light gauge face for those that want a tach but do not have or want the three other auxilliary gauges.

If your tach has four red idiot lights around the edges, it aint' stock!

disregard...I just looked at your tach picture agaqin...No idiot lights!
BUT, look at the Speedo, thats a non-Tach Speedo, missing the resetable odometer, has the high beam indicator, AND that Tach also has the high beam indicator. Looks like a mismatch pair to me.

 
Thanks Trainey! Looks like it is confirmed... my tach was definitely added by the PO, it did not come with one from the factory. I do love this forum... everyone is so helpful and smart on our cars. Now I've got to go back to CJPony parts and see if they will work with me on a return of the instrument cluster circuit board. Wish me luck...

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 
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Thanks again to all that helped me on this problem. I went back to CJPony Parts and they basically told me to pound sand. If the part is not new and resellable, then I eat it. Oh well. I "may" be paying that instrument cluster circuit board for an actual tach car forward soon.

 
Thanks again to all that helped me on this problem. I went back to CJPony Parts and they basically told me to pound sand. If the part is not new and resellable, then I eat it. Oh well. I "may" be paying that instrument cluster circuit board for an actual tach car forward soon.
I need a board for a factory tach car. PM me a fair price and maybe we can work something out. I have a board for a nontach car if that will help, but it is attached to a cluster I bought used and I can't say if it is good or not.

 
Unfortunately I'm still in the same boat. All the work, time and money and my instrument cluster lights still don't work. I initially ordered and installed a new circuit board for a tach car, only to find out my car was NOT an original tach car, the PO must have had one installed. So then I ordered the circuit board for a non tach car which didn't come close to fitting because of the way the tach was installed. I decided to remove the tach. I got an idiot light cluster from the rocket man, some new (old) bulb sockets for the center gauge cluster from midlife, new green LED bulbs from hipoparts. Cleaned everything up, painted the cluster flat white and put everything back together. All the bulbs worked during bench testing and I was thinking this is really gonna look great. I installed the cluster yesterday and none of the lights work, except for the turn signal and high beam indicator lights.

Here are some pictures of the plug. It looks like the PO did some creative rewiring.

uploadfromtaptalk1396798571892.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1396798596154.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1396798618166.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1396798664891.jpg

What us the best solution at this point?? Is it possible for me to wire another plug in or can I fix that plug to get ALL the lights working?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 
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That's the problem when ex owner touch to the hardness, I have a lot of cut wires, some wires added, but very bad job, and easy to create shortcuts and then we never know, fire!!!

Sorry I read very quick the previous posts, but did your tach was connected with 3 wires? If so can be from Rocketman.

I can't help you much my knowledge in electricity and specially on our cars are very limited.

Good luck,

Manu

 
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