Gauges not working, found 3 wires cut

[hkopp 10]

that were cut and taped under the dash. Being partially colorblind makes it tough, but it looks like they belong in the moon shaped plug that goes to the column. Would having any wires there cause the gauges not to work? I bench tested and all respond fine (tach dash), but plugged in I have nothing but lamps and the pass side blinker light (left side works, but the arrow doesnt light up. Poss related or not related is that my brake lights dont light up...switch is good and plugged in. all park lights work fine, as do the turn signals.

 

Looking at the pins, the last 3 on the inside are not plugged in. On a tach dash, are the holes all used or are some not? I will post pics of colored wires, son said they are different colors of green, light and a dark, one with what looks like a white stripe, and a tanish one. Do they make the pins, or should i just wire outside of the plug?

 

I did search and read about 30 posts on this subject, but with a tach dash it seemed to not apply to most, and others had issues with the pod not working which is not my issue, it works fine outside of the car.

 

Thanks!!

[LoneWolf2U 136]

The green wires from your steering col plug are for the brake lights.

As for the dash, check the bulbs first and then trace it from the non workingitems outward.

[danno 128]

I have a tach dash and schematic, but it is at home. If someone else answers first, great. If not, I will let you know later.

[danno 128]

The wires to the moon shaped plug that connects to the steering column are the same for tach and non tach cars. For that matter, they are probably the same for all 69 Mustangs. 1970 had the switch on the column so that was a different animal.

 

On the inner side of that connector, you should have only the center 3 pins used:

> 2 wires connecting to the second one in, both Green/white, for the front Left turn signals and instrument panel blinker indicators

> 2 wires connecting to the third one, both white/blue, for connecting to the front right and instru panel blinker

> a green wire that goes to the stop lamp switch.

 

The reason your brake lights do not work is because the green wire is disconnected from the half moon connector. It should go the second one in on the inner circle that probably has nothing connected to it. The other 2 connectors on the inner circle should have 2 wires connected to each of them, both the same color.

 

None of this could explain why your gauges are not working. What it seems like is someone found a tach instrument panel and installed it in a car that originally did not have one. The connector on the back of the instru panel is completely different between the 2 instru panels. That is why the gauges do not work and also why they cut the wires so the turn signals would work partially.

 

You need to look at the colors of the wires on the connector that goes to the connector for the instrument panel. A non-tach car has red, yellow, green/black, white/red, white/blue, blue/red, and violet on one side, and green/white, nothing, red/white, yellow/white, violet, red/yellow, and black. If your connector has these colors, you are trying to make a tach instru cluster work in a non tack car. This has a whole bunch of problems that will need to be worked on.

 

So find out what the colors are on the connector.

[miketyler 15]

I was thinking the panel plug itself was identical between the tach and non tach cars but they pinned out differently. The most notable tell-tale sign of an attempted tach panel install onto a non tach car results in a smoked temp gauge in the tach panel. I have one just like this in fact.

[danno 128]

Mike, that is what I meant. The plugs are identical, but the wires to it are arranged completely different in a tack vs non-tach wire harness. So you can plug it in, but symptoms are turn signals not working, the temp gauge melts, and gauges do not work. Other than those minor details, you can usually get the speedometer to work without too much problem.

[miketyler 15]

Sorry, misread. For me hopefully there's no other permanent damage to the panel. I plan to restore and sell it someday.