Feeling a little braver today, Insturment panel removal.

[jopizz]

No, the better the grounding between the engine and body the better your dash gauges will work. More than one is better than none.

John

[yellow98cobra]

what is the proper gauge of wire?

[yellow98cobra]

I did TEST as suggested here are my results

[\QUOTE=jopizz;67321]The easiest way to check your CVR is to take the wire off the temp sender and put a test light on it. Turn the key on. If the light pulses off and on then your CVR is most likely good. If the light is solid or you get no light then it could be defective. I wouldn't go through the trouble of removing it until you test it first.

John[/QUOTE]
Thanks I gave it a try, heres what I got. I turned the key one Click I beleive that is ON as any further and the car will start. I did as you said touching the point to the disconnected wire and clip to the negative post on the battery nothing happened. I went ahead and connected the wire back to the sending unit. I then started the car and with it running I touched one end to the wire and top of the sending unit and touched the other end to the neg. battery post and the light pulsed on and off.
You should have a ground strap on the passenger side from the back of the head to the firewall. You should have a clamp on the back of the head that the starter cable runs through. This is where one end of the ground cable goes. The other end can be anywhere on the firewall where there's a screw hole.
I have been PM'ing John about this. Thought I would post here for others to see some of our conversation.
His responce to the above...
If you were able to get a pulsing light I suspect that your CVR is good and you have a ground problem or a problem with the gauge.

[simplyconnected]

Whether the engine is running or not makes no difference. Turning the key to the first click to the right should put you in 'IGN' mode. This position turns your gauges on.

You may want to verify that again. With your test light connected to a good ground, the key in 'IGN', and the wire disconnected from the SENDING UNIT, touch the other test light lead to the SU wire. You should see your test light pulse.

Now take the test light lead off of ground and attach it to the body of your car. See if the light still pulses. I would bet it does because without a body ground, the CVR won't pulse at all. With a poor body ground, CVR will pulse with L-O-N-G wait times between pulses. THIS could be the reason why your gauges aren't working properly. - Dave

[yellow98cobra]

I tested it again as you suggested this time without starting the car I did get a pulsing light. I have also ran a small wire from the negative side of battery to the inner fender wall. "As you suggest in the post under anything goes", I think that information should go into the TRL.

Whether the engine is running or not makes no difference. Turning the key to the first click to the right should put you in 'IGN' mode. This position turns your gauges on.

You may want to verify that again. With your test light connected to a good ground, the key in 'IGN', and the wire disconnected from the SENDING UNIT, touch the other test light lead to the SU wire. You should see your test light pulse.

Now take the test light lead off of ground and attach it to the body of your car. See if the light still pulses. I would bet it does because without a body ground, the CVR won't pulse at all. With a poor body ground, CVR will pulse with L-O-N-G wait times between pulses. THIS could be the reason why your gauges aren't working properly. - Dave

[simplyconnected]

Ok, but we're not finished... Is your gauge still showing, hot? If it is, your SENDING UNIT may not be working properly.

[yellow98cobra]

Ok, but we're not finished... Is your gauge still showing, hot? If it is, your SENDING UNIT may not be working properly.

Today I ran it for short while the temp gauge did move a little. here is a picture off the gauges key off car cooled down, Key on car running. tempature on laser reader was 167. looking at these photos even the gas gauge moves a little from its Key off postion.

[yellow98cobra]

Another issue involving the gauges...????

I have another electrical issue that is popping up. that involves the temp gauge. it seems every other time I start the car up the turn signals do not work and I have also noticed that when this happens the temp gauge does not move at all.

Under my dash there is a jerry rigged emergency flasher wired in. Is the black button next to it the factory emergency flasher button? I pulled the red emergency flasher knob and it lite up, put nothing else happened there were no exterior lights flashing. does this flasher relay at the back of this unit also connect to the turn signals? How should I proceed with this IE: should I disconect the battery before I start messing with the wires here? etc...

[jopizz]

Neither of those switches are factory. They did not come with emergency flashers. Any time you work with the electrical system you should disconnect the battery. Especially on Squarebirds where there is very little if no fuse protection on many circuits.

John

[simplyconnected]

You describe classic symptoms of a loose connection. That may explain why your TEMP test didn't work with the key in 'IGN' the first time you tried, then it did work with the engine running.

Squarebirds never had 'Emergency Flashers'. Those devices screwed to the bottom of your dash are some kind of 'add-ons' apparently mounted by a previous owner. They aren't Ford parts.

Take lots of pictures of the two devices and where the wires go. Together, we will go over this 'change' while tracking the wiring diagram (found in the TRL). - Dave

[yellow98cobra]

Pulled the 2 units loose...

The Black button Has 2 yellow wires coming from it 1 goes up under the dash (Will try to see we it goes later) the other goes to the black fuse holder. (Both fuse holders have good fuses in them) and that connects to a red wire going up into the dash this red wire also has the red fuse holder coming from the flasher attached to it. The flasher has 2 wires, 1 red goes to fuse holder & 1 green going to the pull handle. The flasher pull knob has 5 wires attached 1 green coming from the flasher & 4 blue wires that ran up into the dash none of these were connected. I need to get a view inside of the dash to see if they where spliced in some where they all have spade connectors attached. I found a bulb hanging down in its holder below the clock area. It looks black/ burnt but the filament inside is still attached to the 2 wires. I either need to pull one of the gauges to see behind it. or maybe the panel below the dash. Does the stainless steel panel under the steering column come out easy?

[jopizz]

I suggest that you remove the stainless dash panel first. Most of the wires are behind that with bullet connectors. It's not that hard to remove. There are two screws in the corner of the console. A large bolt in the other corner near the top. There might be two screws behind the kick panel. Sometimes they are there, sometimes if it's been off before they forget to put them back. You also have to remove the screws on the emergency brake bracket. Once it's off you will have greater access to see where the wires are spliced.

John

[simplyconnected]

The Black button Has 2 yellow wires coming from it 1 goes up under the dash (Will try to see we it goes later) the other goes to the black fuse holder. (Both fuse holders have good fuses in them) and that connects to a red wire going up into the dash this red wire also has the red fuse holder coming from the flasher attached to it. The flasher has 2 wires, 1 red goes to fuse holder & 1 green going to the pull handle. The flasher pull knob has 5 wires attached 1 green coming from the flasher & 4 blue wires that ran up into the dash none of these were connected. I need to get a view inside of the dash to see if they where spliced in some where they all have spade connectors attached. I found a bulb hanging down in its holder below the clock area. It looks black/ burnt but the filament inside is still attached to the 2 wires. I either need to pull one of the gauges to see behind it. or maybe the panel below the dash. Does the stainless steel panel under the steering column come out easy?

Eric, the bottom dash panels are a little tricky but they come off. There isn't a lot of room under there, either.

You did well taking the button and switch off. It's good news that the blue wires were not connected. (Yea!)

I need to where the yellow wires come from. Normally, yellow Ford wires are NOT fused (and hot all the time). So I suggest you pull one of the battery cables off while working under the dash.

The most important light bulb is your GEN light. While under there, be sure to change it. Most dash bulbs are #57. They come cheap if you buy a box of ten.

I'm anxious to hear what you find with the wiring. - Dave

[yellow98cobra]

GOOD NEWS...
Did not see any cut wires in there that those four blue wires could have been connected too.
One yellow wire ran out of the fire wall and then down the inner fender wall past the horn then down through a hole with the wires to the left parking light. IT WAS NOT CONNECTED TO ANYTHING.
BAD NEWS...?
The other yellow wire connects to the red wire from the flasher which is spliced in (blue connector) to a bare wire (Could be a short but the light in the flasher handle was getting power) with a female spade connector connected to the light switch’s hot wire (Yellow wire with nut holding it on ).
There is a small red wire that has been cut. And there is a big red wire which is spliced in on the small red wire coming from the steering column, and it feels like it is running to the ignition switch.
What does this red wire coming from the steering column do?
NOW FOR THE NEXT STEP...
Looks like it is time to pull the temp gauge to see those wires final destination and fix or remove them.
Also found more work to do, removing the center console around the heater controls I have found mice poo looks like they were or are living in the center console I will have to pull it out and clean that up.

[jopizz]

Does the small red wire from the steering column have a stripe on it. All the red wires in that area that are factory will have a stripe.

I don't know if you removed the back seat but mice love to build nests under there.

John