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Willys Truck Gauge Clusters
Guys: I'm redoing a 1952 Willys stake bed truck, see attached, and I am having trouble with the temperature gauge. The truck starts and runs well, but after a few minutes the temp gauge pegs to hot. I have replaced the water pump, thermostat, 6 volt sending unit (it is still a 6 volt system), and the radiator. It still shows hot, but I have had two inferred temperature guns on it and it never gets above 190 degrees, even after running for an extended time at the stand still. My parts book shows what is called a voltage regulator that mounts on the back of the instrument cluster and the output side goes to both the gas gauge and the temperature gauge. I put in 5 gallon of gas after cleaning the lines and replacing the fuel tank, and the gas gauge showed about 1/2 full. I think this is also high for a 15 gallon tank. I tested the voltage regulator on the gauge cluster and I get the same reading in as out, all above 8 volts. I'm thinking this device is not working properly, any thoughts? Thanks.
Attachment 10374 Attachment 10375 Attachment 10376
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Instrument Voltage Regulators
[I]"The regulator I have to be used as a replacement regulator to the one not working reads 42.7 ohms ign to case, and 7 ohms ign to output."[/I
This is probably more than you want to know:
The attached picture is a diagram of what is probably inside your voltage reducer. (The IGN to output probably should be drawn as a normally closed set of contacts, but ...). There is a bi-metal strip wound with a heater wire. There are two sets of contacts on the bi-metal strip. One set of contacts controls power to the heater. When the strip is cold, the heater turns on, warms up the strip and as the strip bends, it opens the contacts. Once the strip bends and the switch contacts open, the heater cools off, the strip returns to its original position and the process repeats. This heater circuit is the 40-ohm circuit you see from IGN to CASE.
The bi-metal strip has a second set of switch contacts that connect the IGN terminal to the other contact on the regulator. These contacts are the contacts that open and close to produce the “average” voltage to the instrument cluster.
The procedure you found to test the regulator calls out zero-ohms from IGN to the regulated output – a closed set of switch contacts. If you are reading 7-ohms across those contacts, they are damaged. That resistance will add 7-ohms to the resistance of the gauges that are sensing temperature, fuel level and oil pressure. The problem isn’t so much that the readings will be off a bit – but the points will eventually overheat and fail. They will probably weld themselves together.
If you can open up the bad unit – open it up and look at how the contact points are arranged. I suspect that the bad unit has welded points. If you can see how to get to the points, open up the good unit and give the points a good cleaning.
Or – just try the old regulator and see how it goes …..
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Windshield and fuel guage problems.
Found this new-to-me windshield. The old on was missing glass and the whole bottom was rusted out. Had about 1/4 " of putty. This one is the newer 69-75 style with the wipers mounted on the bottom to have taller glass. I have the wipers wired and working. It even has somebodys graduation cap tassle from 1974. Which if it's from high school they would have been born in 56 the same year as my jeep. I also tried wiring the gas guage. At empty the guage reads 1/2 and at full pegs the guage past full. I thought it was becuase the guage is 6 volt and I have 12 volt going to it. so I got a 12-6 volt reducer and it's still reading the same. I checked with a voltmeter and still have 11.5 volts at the guage and 12.5 on the battery. I don't know if the reducer is bad or what it is. Whould like to hear your thoughts.
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Instrument Cluster Regulators
It is amazing how a topic will sit dormant for a long time, then we have several questions on that topic in just a short period of time.
Over the last week we worked with a gentleman on an instrument cluster voltage regulator problem. You can follow the story here:
https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys...Gauge-Clusters
This probably has more than you really want to know about instrument cluster regulators.
I drew a quick diagram of how the regulator sits in the circuit. If you have 11.5 volts out of the regulator, it is fried. You should have about 5-volts out of the regulator. If it is working properly, it will drive a digital meter nuts and it may make the needle on a good old analog meter quiver around. Either the contact points are welded shut or the heater for the bi-metal strip has opened. You have nothing to lose – pry it open and see what you can find.
As I said in the last discussion, just about every manufacturer used the same type of regulator. If you can find one for a ’56 Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Chevy or whatever – it will be very close to the one you have.
Good luck – let us know what you find.
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Instrument Cluster Regulators
What you have described is a resistor, not a voltage regulator. It reduces voltage, but it does not regulate the output voltage. The voltage at the output will vary with the current drawn by the load. Think of it as a ballast resistor for an ignition coil - like the one that we saw mounted on the firewall of a lot of cars way back when.
An electronic unit is a very good choice if you are working with a 12-volt to 6-volt conversion, but in the case of a 6-volt system you only want to drop a couple of volts and most of the readily available voltage regulators need a higher input voltage that the normal 7.4 - 7.5 volts you see in a 6-volt system at normal charge levels.
If you are dealing with a 12-volt system, this would be a good choice:
https://www.amazon.com/SMAKN%C2%AE-D.../dp/B014ZQ6TFY. Tie it down to a good ground, the case is an electrical connection.
But, if you are still 6-volts, I poked around a bit and I found a couple of units that will probably do what you need at a cost that won’t break the bank.
This one is the original relay style. While it is an Old School approach, it will work just like the defective one you have. This one appears to have an adjustment screw to fine tune the output voltage if you need it.
https://www.npdlink.com/product/regu...e/100930/50625
REGULATOR, Instrument Voltage, repro, original relay style, located on back of gauge cluster, reduces voltage to 5-6 volts at the gauges.
1948-1952 F1-F3 AS VOLTAGE INVERTOR
1957-1964 F100-F350
Another choice is an all-electronic unit:
https://www.npdlink.com/product/regu...c/177873/50625
REGULATOR, Instrument Voltage, electronic replacement, no adjustments necessary, more reliable than the original relay style regulator, output is a constant 5 volts as required.
1948-1952 F1-F3 AS VOLTAGE INVERTER
For both units, the IGN terminal is the straight tab and the “curled” tab goes to the gauges. Get it backwards and it won’t work. And, the tab is an electrical connection - screw it down to a good ground point.
Let us know what you find out…