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What the Heck is Going On with this Speedometer???

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Jonestown Pennsylvania
Check your 4WD light socket connection and then crawl under the truck and look at the right side of the upper transfer case. There is a 2 prong plug and switch. Unplug that and cross the 2 prongs of the wire connection. Does the light work? If it does the transfer case switch is bad. But if the light doesn't work now the task is to determine why the light is not on with the 2 prongs crossed. Use a cotter pin or a short jumper to cross the terminals. Good Luck and Report Back.
 

jplace1011

Well-known member
462
489
63
Location
Santa Ana, CA
Check your 4WD light socket connection and then crawl under the truck and look at the right side of the upper transfer case. There is a 2 prong plug and switch. Unplug that and cross the 2 prongs of the wire connection. Does the light work? If it does the transfer case switch is bad. But if the light doesn't work now the task is to determine why the light is not on with the 2 prongs crossed. Use a cotter pin or a short jumper to cross the terminals. Good Luck and Report Back.
Check your 4WD light socket connection and then crawl under the truck and look at the right side of the upper transfer case. There is a 2 prong plug and switch. Unplug that and cross the 2 prongs of the wire connection. Does the light work? If it does the transfer case switch is bad. But if the light doesn't work now the task is to determine why the light is not on with the 2 prongs crossed. Use a cotter pin or a short jumper to cross the terminals. Good Luck and Report Back.
I’m fairly confident I may no what is wrong. The printed circuit is very loose and unattached around the two bulbs that aren’t working. When I put my fingers up there to unscrew the bulb sockets I can feel the circuit board not attached.

If this is the case can/how do I fix this? I really hope I do t have to take the dash apart!

Here’s a video from behind the Oil Light


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Last edited:

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
Clean up your socket metal contacts with a wire brush or a pencil eraser. Bent the ears of the socket out a bit and make sure the contacts are going on top of the printed circuit board so they are in direct contact. Sometimes they will go under the printed circuit board and just make contact with the plastic housing. Also bench test the bulbs to see if they light. Positive on one ear and negative on other. That will assure a good socket to bulb connection. This is easy stuff but time consuming. Good Luck. Report back.
 

jplace1011

Well-known member
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489
63
Location
Santa Ana, CA
Clean up your socket metal contacts with a wire brush or a pencil eraser. Bent the ears of the socket out a bit and make sure the contacts are going on top of the printed circuit board so they are in direct contact. Sometimes they will go under the printed circuit board and just make contact with the plastic housing. Also bench test the bulbs to see if they light. Positive on one ear and negative on other. That will assure a good socket to bulb connection. This is easy stuff but time consuming. Good Luck. Report back.
I’m going to try all that you suggested! Thank you! I’ll report back!


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jplace1011

Well-known member
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63
Location
Santa Ana, CA
I’m going to try all that you suggested! Thank you! I’ll report back!


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For the Oil light I can feel part of the circuit board flaring out in two spots around/near the round part by where the socket goes. Maybe something got bent or peeled off. I can’t tell for sure what’s going on. I’ve tried looking with my cell phone but it’s not cutting it. I actually ordered a camera that I think I might be able to see things better with. It arrives Thursday. I’ll report back.


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Last edited:

ezgn

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Lake Elsinore Ca.
For the Oil light I can feel part of the circuit board flaring out in two spots around/near the round part by where the socket goes. Maybe something got bent or peeled off. I can’t tell for sure what’s going on. I’ve tried looking with my cell phone but it’s not cutting it. I actually ordered a camera that I think I might be able to see things better with. It arrives Thursday. I’ll report back.


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Your best bet would probably be to remove the dash so you can inspect all of the sockets, inspect the circuit panel, give everything a good cleaning. It would take maybe an hour to remove the circuit panel and another hour replacing it after you have completed everything. I think you are hesitant to do the job because you are apprehensive having never done the job before. It only involves removing screws. My guess is that most CUCV owners have done this job on these 40 year old trucks already. The time you would take to work on doing the job with the dash in place, you could have already taken the dash out and done a complete and thorough job and gained a compete understanding and knowledge of the job at hand. An hour is really about twice as long as it will actually take, an hour is very conservative.
 

jplace1011

Well-known member
462
489
63
Location
Santa Ana, CA
Your best bet would probably be to remove the dash so you can inspect all of the sockets, inspect the circuit panel, give everything a good cleaning. It would take maybe an hour to remove the circuit panel and another hour replacing it after you have completed everything. I think you are hesitant to do the job because you are apprehensive having never done the job before. It only involves removing screws. My guess is that most CUCV owners have done this job on these 40 year old trucks already. The time you would take to work on doing the job with the dash in place, you could have already taken the dash out and done a complete and thorough job and gained a compete understanding and knowledge of the job at hand. An hour is really about twice as long as it will actually take, an hour is very conservative.
Ahhhh ok! I’m not very mechanically inclined and I have no help. This is why I’m so hesitant! I have seen a handful of videos, it doesn’t seem too complicated. I would love to clean everything while I’m at it, and maybe consider changing to LEDs.

Worse case scenario, if the circuit board is damaged in that area, I would need a new one? I wonder if I should maybe order a new one just in case, if I don’t need it I’ll send it back.

Thank you for your input, I’ll have more questions I’m sure!!


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Last edited:

ezgn

Well-known member
650
1,039
93
Location
Lake Elsinore Ca.
Ahhhh ok! I’m not very mechanically inclined and I have no help. This is why I’m so hesitant! I have seen a handful of videos, it doesn’t seem too complicated. I would love to clean everything while I’m at it, and maybe consider changing to LEDs.

Worse case scenario, if the circuit board is damaged in that area, I would need a new one? I wonder if I should maybe order a new one just in case, if I don’t need it I’ll send it back.

Thank you for your input, I’ll have more questions I’m sure!!


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That is your call on the circuit board. They run about $68 dollars. I would take it apart, evaluate, then order a new one if needed. It is not that difficult to do over if you do need a new ribbon circuit board.
 

ezgn

Well-known member
650
1,039
93
Location
Lake Elsinore Ca.
Ahhhh ok! I’m not very mechanically inclined and I have no help. This is why I’m so hesitant! I have seen a handful of videos, it doesn’t seem too complicated. I would love to clean everything while I’m at it, and maybe consider changing to LEDs.

Worse case scenario, if the circuit board is damaged in that area, I would need a new one? I wonder if I should maybe order a new one just in case, if I don’t need it I’ll send it back.

Thank you for your input, I’ll have more questions I’m sure!!


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Owning a truck like this is about learning everything you can to keep it running and in good mechanical shape. Look at it as a hobby and take advantage of the resource the generous members are willing to give you to help you complete any job you chose to tackle. There is no such thing as not mechanically inclined. You can do anything you set your mind and will on to accomplish. Everything in life involves mechanics, driving,sports,work, and the list goes on and on. You can do it and you will be glad you did.
 

jplace1011

Well-known member
462
489
63
Location
Santa Ana, CA
Owning a truck like this is about learning everything you can to keep it running and in good mechanical shape. Look at it as a hobby and take advantage of the resource the generous members are willing to give you to help you complete any job you chose to tackle. There is no such thing as not mechanically inclined. You can do anything you set your mind and will on to accomplish. Everything in life involves mechanics, driving,sports,work, and the list goes on and on. You can do it and you will be glad you did.
Thank you again for your help! I’ll think about ordering one ahead of time. I’m a bit under the gun with time because I’ll be losing my big work space at the end of the month (we sold our family house).

I struggle a lot with working on cars, I get frustrated. My Dad didn’t teach me a thing, he has nothing to teach about cars! Ha!

With that being said this forum and all of you have been a real game changer. My dream would be to have someone teach and supervise me.


Any advice about taking the dash apart? Will the Gear Shift Indicator be something of concern?


Thank you again! I’ll report back soon!


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cucvrus

Well-known member
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10,431
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
The gear shift indicator just clips on the plastic collar of the steering column shift housing. That easy. Remove the instrument cluster only if you must. It is going to be fragile. Be Careful. Make sure you disconnect the speedometer cable and get everything unplugged. Carefully. No force. It fits poorly in that steel opening and all the ears and cluster housing are as fragile as fresh potato chips at this point in time. Good Luck. It is the right thing to do but you must use caution and fix things as you reassemble. Fix everything in the cluster or you are wasting your time. And some of the clusters I have rebuilt have taken many hours. Others a hour or two. Be patient and clean and polish the connections as you go.
 

ezgn

Well-known member
650
1,039
93
Location
Lake Elsinore Ca.
Thank you again for your help! I’ll think about ordering one ahead of time. I’m a bit under the gun with time because I’ll be losing my big work space at the end of the month (we sold our family house).

I struggle a lot with working on cars, I get frustrated. My Dad didn’t teach me a thing, he has nothing to teach about cars! Ha!

With that being said this forum and all of you have been a real game changer. My dream would be to have someone teach and supervise me.


Any advice about taking the dash apart? Will the Gear Shift Indicator be something of concern?


Thank you again! I’ll report back soon!


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If you buy a new circuit board and you already have it all apart, you might want to consider just going with the new circuit board if the old one looks at all questionable. You may even want to consider replacing the sockets with new and skip the cleaning them up part, would save some time, maybe even all new bulbs. It's your choice and decision if you have a few extra bucks. It is all basic common sense, when you start the job you will see and know exactly what to do. Once you have the assembly loose and ready to remove, you will have room to pull it out enough to where you have access to reach around the back an easily grab the the speedometer cable to squeeze the metal tabs to release it and pull it out, you will also undo the wire holding in the volt meter and out she pops.
 

jplace1011

Well-known member
462
489
63
Location
Santa Ana, CA
If you buy a new circuit board and you already have it all apart, you might want to consider just going with the new circuit board if the old one looks at all questionable. You may even want to consider replacing the sockets with new and skip the cleaning them up part, would save some time, maybe even all new bulbs. It's your choice and decision if you have a few extra bucks. It is all basic common sense, when you start the job you will see and know exactly what to do. Once you have the assembly loose and ready to remove, you will have room to pull it out enough to where you have access to reach around the back an easily grab the the speedometer cable to squeeze the metal tabs to release it and pull it out, you will also undo the wire holding in the volt meter and out she pops.
Ok, this sounds like I need some help to do. I’ll have to see what I can do about that. Thanks for the input guys! I know what to do, I just need to figure out how to do it. I’ll update later!


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