1983-84 Fuel Gauge Replacements

August 24, 2009, 01:18:27 AM

I had great success finding a compatible fuel gauge for my 1984 Tbird with the standard buttstuffog cluster.

We all know the 1983-84 cars are getting harder to find parts. I did some research and discovered that the fuel gauge bodies are common on many 1970's and early 80's Fords. All they do is put a different gauge face on the front of it. All you have to do is find a Ford vehicle with a fuel gauge that reads E-F with the needle pointing up, or pointing to the right with the E on top, or pointing to the left with the E on bottom.

I was able to find two fuel gauges. One from a 80's Ford Ranger and the other from a similar era F-150 Truck. They both have the same identical gauge body behind the fuel gauge face. All you have to do it remove the whole thing from the cluster and seperate the gauge face. The sweep of the gauge left to right is the identical sweep angle to the one I need for my Thunderbird.

I checked continuity of both gauges I bought today and they seemed fine. My original gauge had no continuity which meant a broken connection in the windings inside the gauge. I installed one of the two gauges I got today and it works perfectly. So now I have a spare for back-up.

By the way, if you look at the back of the gauge in the picture on the right, that white plastic insulator that the threaded studs go through have a habit of becoming brittle and cracking. The studs are installed into the plastic insulator pretty much like wheel studs. It's usually not a problem unless you have to remove and reinstall a gauge. You don't want the studs turning freely when you loosen or tighten the nuts against the back of the cluster on the printed circuit. The very fine wire used for the windings attaches to the head of these studs on the inside and it will break the wire loose. These fuel gauge bodies come usually attached to the back of the gauge facing with raised plastic edges melted down to hold it in place. Don't worry so much about reattaching it during replacement. The gauge body is secure to the back of the cluster housing and the gauge face usually attaches to the front of the cluster with perimeter screws.

I hope this helps others looking for a fuel gauge but not able to find an exact vehicle to harvest from.

1983-84 Fuel Gauge Replacements

Reply #1 – August 24, 2009, 03:15:08 AM

Good info.
I nominate for a sticky. :D

1983-84 Fuel Gauge Replacements

Reply #2 – August 25, 2009, 07:38:01 AM

Quote from: FordTruckFreeek;288017

Good info.
I nominate for a sticky. :D

+ 1 on that !