Gauges are going out - looking for recomendations

[Driveitnow05]

Hi Guys,

My gauges are almost always all dead even on the tender after sitting for any amount of time. Of the smalls, the gas gauge and the temp work consistantly, while the Boost never comes to life and the others don't function unless the car is run for about 20 miles and the start up procedure is initiated again. Even then the Speedo is hit and miss. Of note, I do wait for the full initiation prior to pushing the Start button.

Should I think new battery, new gauges or what?

If new gauges, I have seen the thread about Speedhut having a full set but it looks like that would certainly alter the OEM look. Also, I have heard that Autometer makes new small gauges for replacement. Further, I belive some have recomended Ford only for the OEM Tach and Speedometer vs. aftermarket.

Thoughts there please.. Additionaly, I am in Colorado, Boulder area, and woul love an experienced GT individual do the work. I'm not brave enough and all my projects tend to get cocked up. Suggestions there for someone as well.

Thanks a million!

 

[Ed Sims]

I like the Speedhut gauges. It is close to the original. The tach is a little smaller. Lifetime guarantee.

 

[GT@50]

Supposedly Autometer improved the small gauges, but I think the large gauges are still old design, if you could get them. Autometer will sell you the smalls but the large ones have to be bought through Ford. Speedhut is the only easy option and they're customizable or pretty close to stock. Just do them all.
If your battery is 6+ years old, replace it and clean the ground, and check others.

 

[nota4re]

If a gauge will sometimes work after a re-start, it is NOT a bad gauge... it is a bad battery. Replace the battery and those gauges will be fine. Those gauges that don't function regardless of the amount of re-starts (aka, they never work) then the gauge itself is bad. You can get a new-internal-design (smaller) gauges directly from Autometer. There is a LOT of posts on this topic that the search function can find for you.

 

[Driveitnow05]

Thanks all for the feedback.

 

[HNS]

Hi Guys,

My gauges are almost always all dead even on the tender after sitting for any amount of time. Of the smalls, the gas gauge and the temp work consistantly, while the Boost never comes to life and the others don't function unless the car is run for about 20 miles and the start up procedure is initiated again. Even then the Speedo is hit and miss. Of note, I do wait for the full initiation prior to pushing the Start button.

Should I think new battery, new gauges or what?

If new gauges, I have seen the thread about Speedhut having a full set but it looks like that would certainly alter the OEM look. Also, I have heard that Autometer makes new small gauges for replacement. Further, I belive some have recomended Ford only for the OEM Tach and Speedometer vs. aftermarket.

Thoughts there please.. Additionaly, I am in Colorado, Boulder area, and woul love an experienced GT individual do the work. I'm not brave enough and all my projects tend to get cocked up. Suggestions there for someone as well.

Thanks a million!

Your battery is toast!!! Try that first and repost! Good luck!!!

 

[twobjshelbys]

Sure points to battery given all the interactions. Get a Group 25 Red Top at Auto Zone or O'Reillys. That's all he Ford battery is. If you care and you're real careful you can transplant the ford label to the new one. Be VERY careful when replacing the battery. DO NOT LEAN ON THE FENDER PANEL!!! THEY WILL CAVE IN!!! If you can't lift the battery out yourself get some help. Also I recommend plugging in your Ford charger into the inside outlet. Then remove the positive terminal cable and tape it so it won't short to the chassis. The charger will keep the ECU alive so it won't "forget" the engine adaptive tests, especially important if you have an emissions test coming up. Otherwise you'll have to run the entire drive cycle (google FORD DRIVE CYCLE).

For new gauges:

Autometer makes drop in replacements with new design innards. Directly from the Autometer site. They may not be mentioned on their web page so call them. All the small gauges are available and if after you replace the battery you do have a bad gauge it is wise to replace them all. They are only about 200 each and the labor to do them one at at time far exceeds the cost of doing them all at once. The down side is that there is no better design innards version of the speedometer or tachometer (big gauges).

If your big gauges die your only choice is Ford (which may or may not be even available any more, and which will with the same probability, fail again) or Speedhut. Some people preferred the speedhut design and they have configuration options for different looks.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Specracer]

The GT Guy (Rich Brooks) posted a while ago, he has a fix for the tach and speedo. Not sure on the progress of that project.

I have had speedhuts for a long time now (~10 years?)

 

[PeteK]

Ditto what the others said about the battery being the likely culprit.

HOWEVER, before jumping to that conclusion, let me ask, how old is it, what type and warranty did it have, and how often do you drive the car? I advise a cranking voltage test too. Can you do that yourself (or with wide/friend cranking the starter while you measure voltage drop)? If so, it's an easy test that will quickly tell you your battery health. It would suck to replace the battery, be all salivating and getting aroused anticipating a flawless start and gauge initiation--and then you have the same problems! Which would mean that the battery you just spent $250 to replace was still good after all.

Another possibility that would be more difficult is the gauge interface box (I forget the exact name at the moment). But let's not dig into that until you have ruled out some simpler and more common problems.

RE Speedhut gauges: I'm a big fan. I've had them for about 6-7 years, with no issues. I like them BETTER than the OE gauges because you can customize them, and especially because they offer additional features, such as RPM warning lights and other warning lights, that the OE gauges do not. I also ordered a higher-reading boost gauge in my set. If you plan to drive your car regularly, I strongly recommend switching the whole panel. Last time I looked that was about $1200 for the full set with a new metal panel cut for those gauges. The new panel is satin black, instead of the brushed black anodized look of the original panel, but it's also much easier to install and remove than the OE panel because it doesn't have the laser sharp edges.

Last Q: How much DIY are you? Replacing the gauges is a DIY job, but difficult the first time you do it. So, if you have doubts, take it to someone with experience. Surely there's someone in the greater Denver area that can do it or help you do it for a little baksheesh.

 

[fjpikul]

Rich does indeed have a fix. You need a trade in gauge and some cash. I don't know what turn around time is.

 

[Shark01]

Supposedly Autometer improved the small gauges, but I think the large gauges are still old design, if you could get them. Autometer will sell you the smalls but the large ones have to be bought through Ford. Speedhut is the only easy option and they're customizable or pretty close to stock. Just do them all.
If your battery is 6+ years old, replace it and clean the ground, and check others.

Rob, I know where you stole that picture from…I’ll send you an invoice, LOL

I’m also a fan of the Speedhut solution (even though I bought the car with them already installed). I like that they are dependable, you can choose the face color you want, and you get shift lights which are fun because I’ve never had them before.

 

[italianjoe]

Hello Driveitnow05, if you are in need of a complete oem Ford gauge cluster I do have one in stock. You can call the dealership for price and shipping. Hope this helps.

Joe

 

[nota4re]

Hello Driveitnow05, if you are in need of a complete oem Ford gauge cluster I do have one in stock.

As others have already correctly stated, the ONLY gauges you would want to consider buying from a dealership are the tach and speedo. If you were to buy the smaller gauges from the dealership, they are the older (original) design and will likely fail over time. The small gauges with new internals are only available directly from Autometer.

 

[MR. 5 MPG]

What is the inherent problem with the OEM gauges? I've owned all sorts of cars and never had an analog gauge fail.

Or, are 2005-06 FGT gauges actually electronic and driven by a black box with a skull and dollar signs on the side?

 

[italianjoe]

As others have already correctly stated, the ONLY gauges you would want to consider buying from a dealership are the tach and speedo. If you were to buy the smaller gauges from the dealership, they are the older (original) design and will likely fail over time. The small gauges with new internals are only available directly from Autometer.

Last time I ordered any of the gauges they were no longer available individually and were only available in a gauge cluster. The good news is the price has come down when purchasing an oem gauge cluster. The bad part is there is a $1200.00 core charge if you dont return your old gauge cluster. I have replaced both oem and aftermarket gauges. It is always what the customer prefers.

Joe

 

[PeteK]

The Gen1 FGT "analog gauges" aren't really. The OE gauges have digital innards that move the needle. And they have a gauge controller hidden under the passenger foot board, IIRC. When I specified a higher-reading boost gauge in my Speedhut panel, I also had to install a new sender at the engine to generate an analog signal to the new analog boost gauge and run a wire through the center console to connect the sender to the boost gauge, and bypass the controller.