Help hooking up temp and oil pressure gauges

[vince311]

Looks like there are several threads regarding temp and oil pressure gauges, but not seeing what I'm looking for.

82 chevy swb w/350.
Neither the oil pressure or water temp gauges are hooked up. Trying to get them hooked up now. Both sending units are connected to the block, but the ends that should be connecting to the gauges are loose/cut, green electrical wires.

Oil pressure: What does the connector look like that plugs into the back of the gauge? Should it be a 14 gauge electrical wire...? The wiring diagram appears to have a drk green wire. If not a wire, does anyone have a pic?

Water temp: It looks like this gauge should function via the circuit membrane on the back side of the gauge cluster. According to the wiring diagram...I should be looking for a tan wire at the firewall.  

The more I dig into this...the more I uncover serious jury rigging. oy

[Irish_Alley]

the collors i cant help you on but the connections should be female blade connections

[VileZambonie]

[vince311]

thanks vile. this diagram is way better than the version I was working from

[vince311]

I'm rehashing this thread...still trying to figure it out.

I bought new OEM temp and oil pressure gauges. Can I run the wires (from the sending units) directly to the back of each gauge? Essentially, hard wiring the gauges...and avoiding the wiring cluster.

I know the gauges are good, and the temp/pressure senders are new. I believe the wiring membrane may be bad, on the backside of the gauge housing.

thanks for any help

[VileZambonie]

Are you talking about the printed circuit?

[muddnutz]

 I hooked wires from sending unit directly to where guage attaches to back of printed board and it works fine. been like that for over a year now

[vince311]

Are you talking about the printed circuit?

yes. My understanding was that the printed circuit sends signals to both the oil and water gauges? I fear that the circuit may be damaged...thus my oil/water gauges are not working

[vince311]

I hooked wires from sending unit directly to where guage attaches to back of printed board and it works fine. been like that for over a year now

muddnutz - my sending units (both oil and temp) have one wire each. Does it matter which terminal you connect to?

[vince311]

 Pics of the gauge backs. Wondering which terminal to connect to? and...do I need to ground them as well?

[ccz145a]

Can you trace the ribbon conductors on the printed circuit?

There are at least 2 grounded ribbons in the circuit, they go to every guage and light, pretty easy to spot.

You can try hooking up a AA battery to the terminals to help figure out the polarity. On the Oil gauge, teminal marked "C" looks like it has a minus sign near, so it may be the negative.

Usually, not all the terminals are used so you need to look at the circuit board to fill in the missing information.

[vince311]

Can you trace the ribbon conductors on the printed circuit?

There are at least 2 grounded ribbons in the circuit, they go to every guage and light, pretty easy to spot.

You can try hooking up a AA battery to the terminals to help figure out the polarity. On the Oil gauge, teminal marked "C" looks like it has a minus sign near, so it may be the negative.

Usually, not all the terminals are used so you need to look at the circuit board to fill in the missing information.

I kinda figured that was going to be the next step. darn. I don't currently have the gauge cluster out. We all know how much fun that is to remove :-)

[ccz145a]

Hey, even with the guage cluster out, it's not a walk in the park. You'll be cross-eyed by the time you're done.

I mixed and matched some 84 guages and clock with my 75 guages. I kept the mechanical oil guage. All this because I wanted a voltmeter and clock to replace my ammeter and brake light!

Just take your time, maybe you'll find the bad spot in the circuit and be able to fix it with a jumper.