Eric,
On '63 models, the vacuum hose to the parking brake release is in the vicinity
of the wiring for the cluster. When I pulled my cluster for the first time the
hose came off of the actuator for the brake release. To avoid this happening
again in the future, I rerouted the hose differently, but made sure that it was
not going to interfere with anything else.
For some reason I think that you said that your Imperial came from the South
King County/ Pierce County/ Kitsap County of Washington. My '63 was also from
that area (Tacoma), and it is possible that both cars had gauge trouble and
went to the same shop for repair. If this is true it would explain why they
both were "fixed" the same way.
Incidently, even if the regulator in the temprature gauge does still work, I
would recommend by passing it and replacing it with the "add on" variety. The
built in one is a set of breaker points that eventually will become stuck and
put a straight 12 volts through the gauges. If they are not disconnected
immediately, they will burn out beyond repair. These days Jeff Carter charges a
lot of money to rebuild those clusters. I think he also uses the add on
regulator in the rebuild. Disconnecting the wiring during an emergency is not
an easy task.
I was able to purchase the regulators that I have from the local Chrysler
Dealer many years ago. I don't think that they are still available that way,
but Jeff Carter, or another parts house may be able to supply one fairly cheap.
It is very easy to install. If you are interested, I can tell you how in
private e-mail. The same part fits 60, 61, 62, and 63.
Paul
In a message dated 12/28/2003 5:13:28 PM Eastern Standard Time,
mikanlin62@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
>
> Eric,
>
> >From the best information I have here, the temp gauge is where all the power
> to the instruments goes in, the temp gauge is also where the small
> instrument cluster voltage regulator is included - its part of the temp
> gauge. If you can see it in the circuit you have, the current goes to the
> temp gauge at terminal I , youll also notice its the only gauge with an I
> terminal . The A terminal of the temp gauge is in common with the A
> terminals of the remaining gauges, not counting the ammeter as they dont
> require it.
>
> In fact, with the exception of the el lighting, the ammeter really has
> little or nothing to do with the other gauges as far as how its powered or
> having any electrical commonality with them, its just in series with the
> main power leads between the battery and the rest of the system.
>
> Anyway, the schematic I have show two connectors on the temp gauge that have
> more than one wire to them, the el wires " e " and the "g" series wires
> which are power to the other gauges. The schematic I have show a wire ,
> G-1, from the fuse box to the temp gauge and it says it is a 18 gauge black
> wire. Does this sound right, were you gauges working before ?
>
> Regarding the wire to what you call the right two gauges, the red wires G-3
> and G-5 go between the temp gauge and the fuel gague, and from the temp
> gauge to the oil gauge respectively. Do these other gauges work as well,
> the question being if the red wire you found was feeding one of the other
> instruments. The sending unit wires for the gauges are violet, light blue
> and gray so you may want to double check that they are connected to the "S"
> terminals of the gauges and work from there by process of elimination.
>
> Regarding the small blocks and rubber strip, its been too long since I had
> one of these apart to remember where those were with any degree of
> certainty. If I had it in front of me that may be a different story. I have
> one or two of these in my shop and maybe they will shed light on this
> matter. The rubber hose could be for a vacuum actuator for your ac and
> heating servos, but I dont recall seeing one of them routed with the
> instrument wiring before....perhaps to the far left side for the under dash
> servo if you have one, thats more of a guess on my part than anything else.
>
> If you need, contact me privately and we can walk thru this one, that
> particular cluster is not that hard to work with , my concern is what if any
> changes that someone else has made and any creative wiring they may have
> done which could result in harm if its not discovered and dealt with. Stuff
> like extra unfused hot wires, things that go smoke in the night!
>
> Btw..dont worry about disconnecting the battery for the el lighting, the
> pack only gets power when the headlight switch is on, so if you have the
> switch off the pack is off. I would disconnect the battery just because of
> the ammeter wires and some of the other wires that are always hot regardless
> of the key position, you never know where there may be bare spots or such
> under a panel!
>
> Mikey
> 62 Crown Coupe
>
>
>
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