Bus fuel gauge vibrator replacement
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361 viewsHere's the VR (voltage regulator) information. This is what you need. I got mine for $3.15 at Norvac Electronics, Inc. You can also get it at Fry's. NTE1932, IC voltage regulator, positive 10-volts, 1-amp.
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341 viewsHere's the VR. The center pin is a ground and the easiest way to ground it is to CAREFULLY bend it back onto the backside of the VR body. It will then be pressed against the gauge cluster body that is grounded. The pins are delicate and if you bend them too much they will break!
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435 viewsWhat I did was take a short piece of wire and solder it to the pin on the VR and then shrink-wrapped it to keep it insulated. I then crimped a spade connector at the end of the wire. I have a quality (a.k.a. expensive) wire crimper so I know my crimps are good and will last. The right pin (red wire) of the VR connects to the right spade/tab on the fuel gauge. The left pin (black wire) is what gets the +12 volts. Note the spade connetors are being used -- the red wire has a female spade connector and connects to the fuel gauge while the black wire has a male spade connector and is connected to the +12 volt black wire from the gauge cluster.
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429 viewsClose up of mounting the VR to the back of the gauge body.
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409 viewsI used a 7/16" socket -- none of my standard metric sockets fit! -- to carefully snug down the VR. I used the stock sheet metal screw from the original vibrator to secure the VR down. I also put a stainless steel split washer under the head of the screw to help lock the screw in place. Just in case...
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429 viewsHere are the resistors...beefy! They are 3 watts each. If you use a smaller wattage resistor they will get hot!! These will get warm but not hot. One is 1-ohm and the other 16-ohms. You wire them in series so you get a total of 17-ohms resistance. So you can use any combination of resistors you want, just shoot for 17-ohms. This puts my gas gauge needle right on the first white mark (left side) of the red Reserve section but the needle will go a little past the Full mark when the tank is topped up. Add more resistance to have the needle move down more but I'm guessing that a total of 20-ohms would be the max to use.
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395 views(continued) The resistors came as a two-pack and were $1.25 each ($3.50 total for 4 resistors).
My "resistor pack". I wrapped the wires together so they will be in series...
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394 views...then soldered them together, trimmed off the extra wire, and carefully bent it back on itself.
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375 viewsI used "Plasti Dip" over the joint as it's an electrical insulator and will protect the joint. It's thick and simply paints on.
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381 viewsI used a small zip-tie to keep the resistors together while working on them. Not critical to have but makes the pack more sturdy and easier to handle. You can also see that I bent the wires back on themselves, essentially making them thicker. This allowed me to crimp spade connectors to them...
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391 views...as can be seen here. I again used Plasti Dip to cover/protect the exposed wire. Use one female spade and one male spade connector. The female will be connected to the fuel gauge and the male will be connected to the brown with black stripe wire that goes to the fuel gauge sending unit.
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467 viewsAll connected. Use the Bentley wiring diagram to assist but this is basically how it's wired. Remember, you're simply replacing the vibrator with the VR and using a resistor pack in-line with the fuel gauge sender to bring the voltage down to a reasonable level.
+12V (black wire from gauge cluster) -> VR -> gauge -> resistor pack -> tank sender (brown w/black stripe wire)
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439 viewsAnother view.
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460 viewsWhat it looks like under the dash when put back together. The resistors aren't touching anything and there's no tension on them.
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