So, how does the Guage tester C-3826 work? I am still chasing down some gremlins in my instument panel, and I would love to build my own mopar guage tester.

Thanks,

Greg

It sounds to me that it's little more than a voltage source and variable resistance to emulate the signal derived from the various senders. I've never actually seen one but I'm basing this guess on what I read of it in the 62 Plymouth/Valiant FSM.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Yeah, I think you are close. I am wondering if I can use a rheostat with a power source to mock it up.

Any other thoughts?

Greg

Should be able to do that but if you want accurate calibration you'll need to pay attention ot the size of the rheostat as well as the voltage at the source. If you just want to test the function of the guages a 5v DC adapter from Radio Shack will do the trick.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

I made my own tester. Sources vary a bit, but basically ~10ohms should be HI and ~77ohms LO for temp, oil, and gas. I've a variable power supply I use and set to 5V for testing, but often I run 12V to the voltage limiter and test it at the same time.

I looked at the FSM again and it appears that the factory tester doesn't even have a voltage source. The instrauctions are to appy 12V to the 12V terminal of the temp guage which is the voltage feed to the instrument cluster regulator. The instrument is nothing more than a variable resistor which emulates the load of the various sendrs. At least that's what it looks like to me.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

I figured this out. I used the cheapest potentiameter that I could find at Fry's, applied power to the terminals on the back of the gauge cluster, and used the pot in place of the input. It worked!

I would recommend getting a pot and using it for any testing or repairs of the gas or temp gauge. It really helped me test and sort out my problems.

Greg