Oh great, another gauge failure.
- Thread starter Wwabbit
- Start date
the Wizard
GT Owner
Lost the tach today on a 3000 mile car that has the Sears battery and was on a battery tender a minute before the failure. While I guess I'm somewhat grateful that something is happening with AutoMeter I must say in the bigger picture the handling of this has been horrible by Ford. Of course there is the gauge failure itself. But then the lack of forthright information makes it all the worse. Information about the failure mode might actually have saved some gauges, but everybody is afraid to say who's at fault? How about the price of the AutoMeter gauges......Kendall did he say? Cause I assume they're still expensive, the benefit is they will work. And thinking about this alternative versus SpeedHut, am I to assume I could continue to have gauge failures until the whole cluster is replaced at several thousand dollars to AutoMeter? How about a repair program? An official announcement of the timing? Just so many questions with so few answers. You'd think with the notoriety of this car Ford would have serviced us better and possibly come through with some amazing exchange program or something......disappointing.....
FBA
GT Owner
I think there's a number of members who would agree that the simplest thing to go is to just buy the complete set from Speedhut and put your old ones in a box. I'm going to do that this season, hopefully before I lose a gauge or two...LOL
Given the value of the car vs the small amount of money to deal with it, it makes sense to me.
Given the value of the car vs the small amount of money to deal with it, it makes sense to me.
the Wizard
GT Owner
FBA.....I totally agree with that. And I will start that process immediately....even look forward to the design process. However, more information still should have been the minimum we should have gotten.
So who has the "perfect" design?
So who has the "perfect" design?
FBA
GT Owner
Ya you know these OEM's eh! Not real forthcoming with information, especially when it costs them money to do so.
So, last time I checked, there was a plethora of options in the gauge setup from them...different face, different lighting, bezels etc....it was a big production just to try and figure out what I wanted to get. I ended up calling them to ask. Never did make a decision, but will do so in the next few months. Right now, I'm focusing on the design and fabrication of a new intake --
You might post the question and see who did what in their GT's to get an idea -
So, last time I checked, there was a plethora of options in the gauge setup from them...different face, different lighting, bezels etc....it was a big production just to try and figure out what I wanted to get. I ended up calling them to ask. Never did make a decision, but will do so in the next few months. Right now, I'm focusing on the design and fabrication of a new intake --
You might post the question and see who did what in their GT's to get an idea -
the Wizard
GT Owner
chuuckcasey
GT Owner
- Feb 2, 2014
- 3
This is my first post so bear with me.
I took my GT to our Ford dealer (Temecula, CA) because I needed an oil change and smog. When I went to start I needed a jump (over a month of sitting idle) - this didn't surprise me BUT, my oil gauge also DIED. I jumped on the internet, found this site, read the post and suddenly I dont feel so bad.
My questions is, what's the best route to fix my oil gauge (and it sounds like I can expect more failures). Should I preemptively change out others?
Details:
I want to keep the car original. I was just at Barrett Jackson Scottsdale which confirmed the prices of GTs are going up.
I have a Optima battery (not the original) but installed by Ford (Solvang).
I don't typically do my own work on the GT, I leave to the pros.
I would highly appreciate any help.
I took my GT to our Ford dealer (Temecula, CA) because I needed an oil change and smog. When I went to start I needed a jump (over a month of sitting idle) - this didn't surprise me BUT, my oil gauge also DIED. I jumped on the internet, found this site, read the post and suddenly I dont feel so bad.
My questions is, what's the best route to fix my oil gauge (and it sounds like I can expect more failures). Should I preemptively change out others?
Details:
I want to keep the car original. I was just at Barrett Jackson Scottsdale which confirmed the prices of GTs are going up.
I have a Optima battery (not the original) but installed by Ford (Solvang).
I don't typically do my own work on the GT, I leave to the pros.
I would highly appreciate any help.
Empty Pockets
ex-GT Owner
Many here would say yes...and store the originals. (I haven't heard of a SpeedHut gauge failing yet...and there won't be one 'civilian' in 10,000 who'll be able to tell they're not the OEMs.)
Just for drill, you might want to thoroughly clean the neg. ground connection at the chassis. Probably wouldn't hurt to do the same with both battery posts/clamps. There have been a number of "dead" gauges that have 'come back to life' after doing the former.
For some reason, "jumping" the battery has been known to cause issues. Avoid doing that if at all possible. The battery should be trickle charged 'til topped off instead. Most here have a battery tender plugged into the dash 'power port' when their GT is going to sit for any length of time in order to prevent low batt. issues. (The factory recommends doing so if the car's going to sit for 2-3[?] weeks or more...I don't recall the exact time frame. Regardless, it's supposed to be done.)
Welcome aboard, BTW! :thumbsup
Last edited:
Indy GT
Yea, I got one...too
Empty is correct, check the battery ground connection to the frame as the first order of business.
But also since this is an oil gauge failure the non-working component "may" be the oil pressure sending unit on the engine. Do a search on this topic but I would certainly explore the sender replacement before declaring the problem is in the gauge which is much more costly....
But also since this is an oil gauge failure the non-working component "may" be the oil pressure sending unit on the engine. Do a search on this topic but I would certainly explore the sender replacement before declaring the problem is in the gauge which is much more costly....
Vincent998
GT Owner
After I went to the Speedhuts I charge the battery (C-Tek charger) for a couple of hours once a week if I haven't driven the car. No problems!!!!
BlackICE
GT Owner
I guess you never bothered to read the manual since you knew from day 1 that the tickle charger was going to be connected and never removed. :lol
chuuckcasey
GT Owner
- Feb 2, 2014
- 3
Thanks guys. I'll search for the oil pressure issue and track down the location of the pressure sending unit. Anyone got a hint for me? Do I need to put it on the lift or can I get to it from the top?
As for the charger, this is embarrassing but I didn't know the car came with a charger... or maybe it didn't. I bought it new in 2006. Currently I'm trying my CTEK on AGM. It started at the 1/2 battery indicator. I've got to check where I am today on the charge. I've got a email to CTEK to make sure this model (3300) is made to trickle/float a AGM.
Thanks again, thanks.
As for the charger, this is embarrassing but I didn't know the car came with a charger... or maybe it didn't. I bought it new in 2006. Currently I'm trying my CTEK on AGM. It started at the 1/2 battery indicator. I've got to check where I am today on the charge. I've got a email to CTEK to make sure this model (3300) is made to trickle/float a AGM.
Thanks again, thanks.
FBA
GT Owner
or a C-Tek, which also doesn't fail. I have 7 of them running in my garage at most times...
I bought 10 of them on sale 3 years ago for $39.99 reduced from $89.99 on a one-day deal!
I have 48K miles now but along the way I went through 3 speedos, 1 fuel & 1 oil pressure gauge. I have the Speedhuts now with no problems.
Ed
RPM217
2005 white/blue stripe
Xcentric
GT Owner
No gauge fails, but I would drive even if they all failed. If I was inclined to wait years for a mythical Autometer solution, I'd just plug a ScanGauge into the OBDII port. Speed, rpm, temp, volts...anything reported to the OBD. Not sure about boost or oil pressure, but who needs those? Has anyone ever had oil pressure fail while driving? I guess anything is possible, but risk is miniscule. Greatest risks are flat tires (nobody seems to mind not having TPMS) and backing into a curb (no reverse camera).