Andrew_L26 Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Hi all, a few days ago I started my z and none of my gauges were working (tach, oil, fuel, temp) the only ones that work are my clock, voltmeter (which seems a little dodgy) and speedo. I thought I may have knocked something out from under the dash as I was installing a clutch pedal for my manual conversion however I haven't been able to find anything. the only other thing is the night before I was charging the battery with another car. I drained the battery by leaving my door open all day whilst working on the car as well as the radio going. I left another car running with jumpers for about 15 mins to give the battery a bit of extra juice ready for a drive the next morning. The next morning I noticed first my tach wasn't working then my temp gauge/oil/fuel so I decided that I'd better run my thermofans manually due to my temperature controller being stuffed. Eventually the fans fully drained the battery and the car began to run really rough, so I shut her off and unplugged the fans (as they were running really really slowly) then got a jump from someone to get to where I was going. I think I have cooked something by charging the battery with jumper leads however I've checked all my fuses and they are fine (with a voltmeter) as well as my fusable link wires. Any help would be amazing!! Andrew Simestime 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillay Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 have you checked the alternator is ok? see if it's putting out 14volts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 have you checked the alternator is ok? see if it's putting out 14volts As of now It isn't, would a failed alternator cause the gauges to fail as well? I'm thinking it's something else thats causing all of it not to work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilltech Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Going by on-line advice I have seen offered regularly by experts, first up be sure all the earths in the circuitry are sound. Apparently bad groundings can be responsible for all sorts of electrical gremlins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Going by on-line advice I have seen offered regularly by experts, first up be sure all the earths in the circuitry are sound. Apparently bad groundings can be responsible for all sorts of electrical gremlins. That's sort of what I've been doing. Anyone know where the main ground is for the gauges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilltech Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 On my 260 there is a ground right behind the front end of the console, part of the large bunch of wires in that area. But also check the grounds in the engine bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmates260z Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Have seen this issue before but I did not solve it myself. Strangely it was a auto (2+2). The clock worked but the tacho, fuel and temp did not. The guy she bought the car off said "they used to work". When I looked at the wiring diagram I remember seeing something that linked the power to the gauges with the auto kick down switch. I checked all that wiring and could not fault it She took it to a auto electrician who charged her $800 to fix it and said someone had messed up the wiring....................... Good luck...I would like to know the issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Have seen this issue before but I did not solve it myself. Strangely it was a auto (2+2). The clock worked but the tacho, fuel and temp did not. The guy she bought the car off said "they used to work". When I looked at the wiring diagram I remember seeing something that linked the power to the gauges with the auto kick down switch. I checked all that wiring and could not fault it She took it to a auto electrician who charged her $800 to fix it and said someone had messed up the wiring....................... Good luck...I would like to know the issue Hmm, Mine was a 2+2 auto when the issue started. I hadn't changed any of the wiring etc. I also found that the kickdown switch didn't work. The was converted to manual the next day (it all happened the morning after I installed my clutch master and pedal) I'll keep you guys posted Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) I've actually found quite a few other cases of this http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/303777-260z-gauges-not-working.html http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/123110-260z-no-gauges-working/ I've decided tomorrow I'm going to #1 clean the under-dash ground, if that doesn't work then I'm going to take my tach out and manually ground it, if that doesn't work then I know it's power, which I will try next with and see if feeding 12v down that line will get all of my gauges to work. Is it 12V that the gauges take or 6V? If I still can't work it out then I'll probably make another loom for the gauges and do it that way! Andrew EDIT* http://forums.nicoclub.com/2009-240z-build-t403961-540.htmlFound this which might be worth a read if someone is having this issue? Edited March 27, 2016 by Andrew_L26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PB260Z Posted March 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2016 Hi Andrew They run on 12V. Just watch out with the tacho, the trigger is less - around 9volts. Cheers PB Andrew_L26 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 I've been following some wiring diagrams and It's looking like the voltage regulator might be stuffed. I suspected this before and noticed one of the connectors is badly corroded but I cleaned it and still no go. However I did notice that when it was completely unplugged it made no difference to the gauges working or not. Anyone know what the voltage regulator actually does? Also, looks like the alternator interfaces directly with the voltage regulator which would explain why it's not charging? Here is a wiring diagram that I found online. It's pretty well exactly the same as the factory manual however I wanted to use this as I can draw on it etc. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-7sJCmAZ6KaTWs5a2JweXNoYmM/view?usp=sharing Sorry about the external link, the forum doesn't like the HUGE picture... Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PB260Z Posted March 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2016 Hi The voltage regulator does exactly what the name suggests, it regulates the voltage in the car. It monitors the voltge in the battery and tells the alternator how much power to generate to keep not only the car and accessories running but also recharge the battery. If you have a suspect looking connection on the reg and the alternator is not charging you could be onto the root cause of of your problems. Cheers PB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/289362-could-voltage-regulator-74-260z.html Sounds very similar to my issues. First thing for tomorrow is to clean those plugs and if that doesn't work then I might hotwire past the connecter and go from there. I'll keep you updated! Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blu260z Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) Check the fusible links Andrew. They caused me issues with my car I switched them to new fusible links. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/14418-gauges-not-working/ http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/14072-electrical-issues/ Edited March 27, 2016 by blu260z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Check the fusible links Andrew. They caused me issues with my car I switched them to new fusible links. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/14418-gauges-not-working/ http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/14072-electrical-issues/ I did make new fusible link wires about 4 months ago and replace them. I'll double check them though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blu260z Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I completly stripped out the old fusible links and replaced the lot with this style. Atleast then you can see they are cooked. Find out what amps run through the links and replace with suitable new style fusible links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PB260Z Posted March 28, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) I completly stripped out the old fusible links and replaced the lot with this style. Atleast then you can see they are cooked. Find out what amps run through the links and replace with suitable new style fusible links.Hi Blu260z. Could you post up a photo or two of how you adapted things to suit the modern fusible links ? Cheers PB Edited March 28, 2016 by PB260Z Andrew_L26 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 I was planning to replace them with maxi-fuses using the same housing etc and just having little adapters on top. I got the gauges working! sort of anyway. if I manually jump the power from the battery to all of the gauges (green wire on tach) they all work. I also found that the wire does link up with the voltage regulator directly it's the black and white wire going in the V.R. now I'm going to find out why there isn't any power going to that wire! I'll keep you posted Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Also wanted to add that when I connect power the alternator seems to activate and output around 14.2 v, the voltage regulator clicks slightly, the engine dips for a second and it charges! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 So um... it was the "flasher" fuse... It all seems to be working since I replaced it. it had broken on the inside due to being knocked. It must have passed my check as when I push it together it works fine. I'll post pictures later Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_L26 Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Thanks all for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PB260Z Posted March 28, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 28, 2016 Glad you got the electrics sorted - great news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blu260z Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Hi Blu260z. Could you post up a photo or two of how you adapted things to suit the modern fusible links ? Cheers PB PB. I dont have any pics but its fairly easy. I cut off the old fusible links stripped back the white and red wires and put on yellow female spade terminals and plugged them straight into the new style fusible link. I also gave them a quick wrap in electrical tape just so nothing can come loose. I will try get a pic tomorrow night sometime. ☺ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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