Gotcha. I plan to take the cluster out by the middle of this next week and clean the board, grease the connections, etc. Speaking of which, how is the best way to test the regulator?
Not just any grease, you want electrical conducting grease something like this [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Fulton-11755-Electrical-Contact-Grease/dp/B001446LP4/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1381940571&sr=1-2&keywords=conductive+grease"]Amazon.com: Fulton Electrical Contact Grease: Automotive[/ame]
With a volt meter set to read DC voltage in the 10s. You also need to know what the voltage is supposed to be. http://tinyurl.com/pqoespm
This might help too. http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/v...instrument-panel-voltage-reg.html#post3082029
anybody got a part # for the instrument voltage regulator for the 76' mav? Looked on ebay but didn't really find one...could be using wrong search criteria.
70-77 are all the same. It's call an INSTRUMENT CLUSTER VOLTAGE REGULATOR or IVR for short. Any Mustang Vendor has them
I looked at Laurel Mountain Mustangs at their voltage regulators, and they have them for separate year spans. So what year mustang regulator fits the 76' maverick? Also, they have them OE or 'solid state adjustable'...so are the solid state more dependable? If so I found this one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Instru...rd|Model:Maverick&hash=item4175acd131&vxp=mtr would it be a viable replacement?
Another issue you may be having is that the 1976 instrument cluster is very prone to turning to dust. If the cluster has started to "crumble away"...then you are losing some of the contacts on the back of the cluster....screwing things up.
mine had a very small pinhole in the float it would get gas in it and not read above a 1/4 tank I changed it and it now works fine
Okay. Pulled the cluster out today and cleaned all contact points on the circuit board by lightly sanding with 1000 grit (came clean as a new penny), then swabbed with electrical contact cleaner, then finished with LubriMatic dielectric grease. Replaced 4 bad idiot bulbs and one gauge light. Hooked it back up and pretty much the same result - key in 'run' position brought fuel gauge up to just past a 1/4 tank...then when engine is started it comes up to just past half. Soooo, as per the link for testing the VR I tested it on the bench and found that on the positive side it read 12.28 volts....but when I switched to the negative side it read the same, with about 1 or 2 pulses down to 11.46. So I am thinking a new VR might be in order. That being said, I have scoped out both the OE type and the 'solid state' type. I am assuming that the OE type will suffice...any comments?
