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voltage stabilizer

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machinemd

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Help....I need the advice of experience. On my 76 Spitfire, the gas guage has always read 1/4 tank lower than it should. I replaced the sender a few years back with no result. And the temp. guage has always read slightly over 1/4 at normal temp. Could the problem be the voltage stabilizer that I didn't even know existed? Thanks in advance.

[ 05-13-2003: Message edited by: machinemd ]</p>
 
Hello Machinemd,
Yes, it's possible. This little device drops the voltage to about 10 volts I think. It is a rather primitive device which uses a bimetal strip heated by its own internal coil to rapidly (I assume) make and break the supply to the gauges.
Normal check is to short circuit the sender terminal to earth, and the instrument should read full scale. If both the fuel and temperature gauge do not read full scale when you carry out this test then it is almost certain to be the regulator. On my MK 1 Triumph 2000 it is located on the bulkhead, but later MK 2 models had it attached to the back of the Speedometer. It is a small rectangular metal cased device with two terminals, one male the other female.

Alec
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Alec is right on. At least on the TR6, both the fuel and temp gauges are wired from the voltage stabilizer that is attached to the rear of the speedo. There is a fellow in Florida who sells a much more efficient electronic stabilizer for under $20.; if interested, I can try to find his URL for you.
 
Thanks guys. That's one nigling problem that I'll go after one of these days. A rainy day project! I thought that I read somewhere in the past that it did affect both guages, but I always had bigger projects to deal with. Finally.... Rick, if you do run across that name/number, I'd appreciate it. I may opt to just test for now to nail it down, and do the repair in the winter. My next winter project will include tearing apart the dash to clean up the spider web of wiring that dpos gifted me, along with refinishing the fascia, so I'll be in there again anyway. Since you guys confirmed it, I found a link on how to make an electronic stabilizer. If anybody is interested, it's https://www.mgcars.org.uk/electrical/replacement.html

Steve
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