[Lew360]

I have my Father's 1980 CJ7 that he bought new. My question is my Temp and Gas gauge are opposite of all the pictures I have seen. Is normal or is something really off? As far as I know that is the original Speedo and gauges.

 

[John Strenk]

I know they swapped the warning lights sometime in 1980 with the dana 300.

It wouldn't be that easy to swap the Fuel and temp gauges around.

 

[Lew360]

I need to clarify, my Temp and Gas read backward from all the pictures I have seen. My cold is where hot is on all the others and my empty is where full where full is.

 

[CJ5_Fan]

Yours is the same as my 1980 CJ5

 

[keith460]

What you have is pre-1975 fuel and temp gauges from a CJ-5 in a later model, 1976-86, speedometer head. I have that same fuel gauge that Leon Rosser Jeep sent me by mistake in the late 80's for a spare. They sent me the correct one and told me to keep the first one as it was not worth the shipping cost back in the day when prices for NOS OEM parts were relatively cheap.

Some photo examples of early CJ-5 speedometers:

And the 1976-1986 Jeep CJ speedometer:

 

[Lew360]

Thanks Keith460, that explains it better than I had hoped. Neither gauge actually works so I may just get a whole new cluster.

 

[caseypotts]

I'd suggest you save your money on the current clusters. Save your money and get something like a speedhut.

 

[wallytoo]

here's mine:

earlier (possibly original) temp/fuel gauges in a later head (not original). neither of the gauges next to the speedo unit are original.

 

[agear]

What you have is pre-1975 fuel and temp gauges from a CJ-5 in a later model, 1976-86, speedometer head. I have that same fuel gauge that Leon Rosser Jeep sent me by mistake in the late 80's for a spare. They sent me the correct one and told me to keep the first one as it was not worth the shipping cost back in the day when prices for NOS OEM parts were relatively cheap.

Some photo examples of early CJ-5 speedometers:
View attachment 4167485 View attachment 4167486 View attachment 4167487

And the 1976-1986 Jeep CJ speedometer:
View attachment 4167488

That’s what was thinking

 

[keith460]

Found the one Leon Rosser Jeep sent me. I think I need to put this baby up for sale on eBay one of these days.

 

[agear]

Deleted my post . Meant to post in what did you do to your cj today

 

[Lew360]

Found the one Leon Rosser Jeep sent me. I think I need to put this baby up for sale on eBay one of these days.

I have some testing to do, but I may actually need one of those. I got the Temp gauge working today, so I know that the bi- metal connector is working and the gauge has power. I'm not looking forward to dropping the tank to check the ground and sending unit.

 

[258]

I have some testing to do, but I may actually need one of those. I got the Temp gauge working today, so I know that the bi- metal connector is working and the gauge has power. I'm not looking forward to dropping the tank to check the ground and sending unit.

If you drop tank, make sure there is very little gas in it. It will be easier to handle and drop super easy. Actually it’s not a hard job at all.

 

[bob4703]

Dropping isn't the hard part with a full tank. Handling it and getting it back is the hard part.

 

[John Strenk]

I used one of these the last time I dropped the tank.

I think I got it at Harbor Freight, It's great for lifting motorcycles, transmissions, lawn mowers, Fuel tanks.

 

[bob4703]

Thanks John. I'd never thought of that. I'm going to use mine when I put my tank back in in a week or month or so. I've used mine to lift the heavy arse spare to the tailgate mount.

 

[Lew360]

I actually have one of those in my garage. I bought it to work on my 1998 Suzuki Marauder. I might have thought to use it like that, but I'm glad you posted that because now I know exactly how I'm doing it. Thanks!

 

[BagusJeep]

If you have power then the CVR is working inside the fuel gauge, which is great. Next step is to check if the gauge moves, which you can check by momentarily grounding the S terminal.

 

[devildog80]

And don't assume your sending unit is bad, unless the resistance coil comes out in pieces.

If still intact give it a good cleaning, to get contact again on the resistance coil, your probably way ahead over buying a replacement.

Quality is just not there like the original OEM.

Bend the 3 metal tabs back carefully, and open it up.

If you have no OHM reading (lower means more gas in tank/higher means less gas in tank), then use a good cleaner and soft brush to clean the residue off the resistance coil inside.

Verify an OHM reading with + & - test leads on sender gauge/ground connections.

All good, put it back together, and install back in the tank with new gasket & hoses.

Pic of mine out of '84 Grand Wagoneer - for reference only

 

[Lew360]

So update. I grounded the S terminal and fuel gauge sweeps. I guess next step is to drop the tank, check ground and the sending unit. Thanks for everyone's help.