General Technical & Electrical General technical and electrical discussion for the Ford Ranger that does not fit in any other sub-forum.

HELP!!! NEEDLES WON'T MOVE!!!

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Old 02-16-2009
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Icon4 HELP!!! NEEDLES WON'T MOVE!!!

Ok, so i just replaced the gauge covers on my truck (stock to aftermarket white ones). I had to pull the needles off in order to pull the old covers off, and after i installed the new ones and put everything back together i took it for a test drive and realized my speedometer doesn't work, nor does my tach. and the other ones are waaaay off...how can i go abouts fixing this? i was thinking like glue the needles to the little rod thingy with super glue. Also what is the best way to make sure everything is accurate? PLEASE HELP!
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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There has to be an easy way...
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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search it, i think someone else had this problem.
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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Your needles are on TOO TIGHT!!!

Wait for the water temp to cool and the truck is off. Put all your needles back to the zero or off positions. The speedo and tach are on too tight. There's some good how to's on this here and on RPS, as well as TRS. I know there's a battery test way, but I did my speedo while driving. I know when I'm doing 80km/h and where my rpm's are at. I pushed it on and later got my police buddy to clock me. Turns out I'm on the money.
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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My How-to is by far the BEST out there for pulling needles and setting your speedo...
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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Originally Posted by Fx4wannabe01
My How-to is by far the BEST out there for pulling needles and setting your speedo...
i was pretty sure that it was you shane, i just couldn't remember.
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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Mine is pretty good too and involves painting and LEDS.

But yes, pull all the needles, and start the truck with the gauges hooked up.

Let the truck warm up for about 20mins or so. Go out and stick the needs where they need to be centered on water temp or so.... speedo on 0, rpm around 600-700 or whatever it is... and don't push them on too tight or they'll get stuck on the overlay.
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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You'll never get the needle on zero......gauges start at 10. lol. you must either drive with a GPS or following someone at a certain speed and push the needle on, OR do the AA trick which wont help now that it's too late...
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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ok...so i tried it out while i was at the firehouse. I loosened the needles and now it works fine...i drove down a street and matched my speed with my GPS, matched my tach. with my previous knowledge of when it shifted, filled my tank, and let my engine warm up(thanks for the how-to shane). Now i believe all that's left is the oil level gauge thing? can you guys supply pics to what the oil gauge is normally showing (right now it goes to half way).

Also, the gauge i bought was for 95-01 rangers (i have an 03) so some of the things are in the wrong place, for example the door ajar light is now the fuel reset light lol, but i can live with that...but my primary concern is with the oil level gauge. On my stock ranger gauge, it has a pin(the thing that stops the needle from dropping), but on this one there is no spot for the pin to go into, so i removed the pin and notice when the truck is off the needle drops well below the "L"...should i worry about this or should i just let it go?
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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Almost forgot, here is what the new one looks like
 
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Old 02-16-2009
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Yeah I had those gauges. They aren't any good. They weren't made specifically for rangers, so not all the dummy lights line up. They do look cool at night though. That's why I went to the OEM look with the silver faces and shane with his expo ST cluster.

As for the oil pressure, it's not actually a gauge that measures pressure. What it does is more or less let you know if you have oil in the pan that's pumping through the pump. You have to physically plumb a line up to that gauge for it to measure pressure. I think Griggs did it on his CD, correct me if I'm wrong.

So you'll want to put the needle right about the middle or so. It'll just jump back to that spot when the truck is turned on and running.

Also the battery should be about the same place.
 
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Old 02-17-2009
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Originally Posted by TrePaul86
Yeah I had those gauges. They aren't any good. They weren't made specifically for rangers, so not all the dummy lights line up. They do look cool at night though. That's why I went to the OEM look with the silver faces and shane with his expo ST cluster.

As for the oil pressure, it's not actually a gauge that measures pressure. What it does is more or less let you know if you have oil in the pan that's pumping through the pump. You have to physically plumb a line up to that gauge for it to measure pressure. I think Griggs did it on his CD, correct me if I'm wrong.

So you'll want to put the needle right about the middle or so. It'll just jump back to that spot when the truck is turned on and running.

Also the battery should be about the same place.
Awesome thanks for the help!
 
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Old 02-17-2009
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Oil Pressure gauge is a gauge that reads 'normal' whenever 8psi is met. lol. Pretty much it's an on/off gauge. To make it functioning, you'd need a 0-xx (xx= whatever psi) sending unit, and run that sending unit wire up to the gauge cluster.

I ran those same exact gauges too.....ran 'em til i decided i wanted ALL blue LEDs on my dash...then Trevor modded my Sport Trac white faced cluster with leds for me...and have never looked back! Been rockin' em for more than a year now.
 
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Old 02-17-2009
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haha yea...i'm gonna pass on making the oil pressure gauge perfect...i'm happy with on off lol.

yea i think thats gonna be my next thing to do...make everything that is green, blue.
 
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