Voltage drop on gauge

[roger1]

I understand. It's pretty expensive and this CV has everyone in feeling very frugal. I know I sure do.
I'd take the time to take the dash off and use a pencil eraser on all the connections at the slip plug and at each bulb and gauge location. That could fix you up for quite a while and not cost a cent. One thing everyone has right now is time!
I'm doing spring cleaning like I never have before and come up with many things to sell on ebay. Cash positive things are a side benefit that is really needed right now too.

One other note. Before I got rid of my floppy circuit board I soldered a jumper wire directly to the volt meter connection and ran that wire to an ignition source at the fuse box. That made a big difference in what it read and voltage drops it saw.

 

[Bri guy]

Ok. I will check the grounds first. im not to excited about taking the dash out😞 but i do have all next week to do it......

 

[roger1]

I think you will be amazed out how much patience you have when there's absolutely nothing else you can be doing anyway!
Keep us updated with what you find out.

 

[Bri guy]

I think you will be amazed out how much patience you have when there's absolutely nothing else you can be doing anyway!
Keep us updated with what you find out.

Might be a couple days before i do the dash but i will keep posting

 

[olds307 and 403]

My aftermarket gauge reads about a volt low, I upgraded to a 4 gauge power wire to the alternator since it is 100+ amps. Your actual voltage reading is tight where you want it.

 

[Bri guy]

My aftermarket gauge reads about a volt low, I upgraded to a 4 gauge power wire to the alternator since it is 100+ amps. Your actual voltage reading is tight where you want it.

Ya 14volts is pretty good. Its weird cuz when the alt was on the driver side it would read 13.6 ish at the most..13 with load. But after moving it to the passenger side and replacing that dirty plug now i read no less than 14. But that guage needs to chill 😂 i would like to drive the car now that its put together but seeing that guage that low makes me nervous that the car will die when i drive😐

 

[olds307 and 403]

No belt squealing yet? The belts were setup the same way on my 70 when I got it, had a slight squeal, no matter how tight I put the belt. Better than on the driver's side, did that on a 307, eventually burnt off the belt but still there.

 

[roger1]

My aftermarket gauge reads about a volt low, I upgraded to a 4 gauge power wire to the alternator since it is 100+ amps. Your actual voltage reading is tight where you want it.

There's a lot of factory wiring in the G Body that can be improved. I made many improvements. I also have a 4 gauge power wire from my alternator (170A CS-144). I also did away with the factory fusible links and installed a fuse hub powered by another 4ga wire.
I upgraded the 2 12+V supply wires to the stock firewall fuse panel with 10ga wire and they are fused at the hub with 40A midi/ami screw-down fuses.
I also have relay circuits powered from the hub for the headlights and dual electric radiator fans. This takes a big load off the headlight switch and the main fuse panel load and helps even further. Notice I do all connections with non-insulated connectors which I crimp and solder. Then cover with heavy- wall adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing.

Dakota wiring:

Here's what's left of my floppy circuit board when I pulled it out. You can see a few places where I soldered jumper wires directly to the copper circuits. Also a few jumper wires that were connected directly to the gauges.

 

[Bri guy]

No belt squealing yet? The belts were setup the same way on my 70 when I got it, had a slight squeal, no matter how tight I put the belt. Better than on the driver's side, did that on a 307, eventually burnt off the belt but still there.

No squeal at first. I let it idle for a bit. Then a small chirp. A little more tension and should be good

 

[Bri guy]

There's a lot of factory wiring in the G Body that can be improved. I made many improvements. I also have a 4 gauge power wire from my alternator (170A CS-144). I also did away with the factory fusible links and installed a fuse hub powered by another 4ga wire.
I upgraded the 2 12+V supply wires to the stock firewall fuse panel with 10ga wire and they are fused at the hub with 40A midi/ami screw-down fuses.
I also have relay circuits powered from the hub for the headlights and dual electric radiator fans. This takes a big load off the headlight switch and the main fuse panel load and helps even further. Notice I do all connections with non-insulated connectors which I crimp and solder. Then cover with heavy- wall adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing.

Dakota wiring:

Here's what's left of my floppy circuit board when I pulled it out. You can see a few places where I soldered jumper wires directly to the copper circuits. Also a few jumper wires that were connected directly to the gauges.

Wow. That looks like project. Ive been soldering and using heat shrink but my soldering iron is junk. I need to take the time to straighten all my wiring out and make it clean looking