Took a trip downtown to get some Brad Penn. Then to a favorite brewery, Honky Tonk Brewery. On the way home I hear the stereo stop, then start again. I then see almost nothing on the dash works. No RPM, speedo is working but too high. no oil temp or fuel, no a/f, no oil pressure, no blinkers, you name it. The G light is on cht gauge too tho. Hazzards and dash illumination work. Head lights work, fog lights work. All the rear lights work at once. No brakes, just tail, etc…

Guess i have a weekend project. Thoughts?

Stock speedo? That'd be cable driven so...

Clark, the 'G' light is the generator (alternator) indicator.

Alternator belt still there?

Voltage regulator working?

Time to check out the electrical system with a multi-meter.

Yep. Weird but i had my cell phone mph app running. The dash is usually 5 to 8 behind, depending on speed. Tonight the dash was 8 ahead. Car ran perfectly. Zoomed all the was home as expected.

Just checked the batt. 12.7v with everything off. 13.9v + idling.

G light is working kinda backwards. Usually it starts and stays red til i rev. Now it is off till i rev then on.

I'd check for an intermittent ground. Check all the brown wires under the dash going to the multi-lug grounding hub to see if anything changes.

Fuse S9 powers most of those things you mentioned and is necessary to the operation of the GEN light.

Yup, check the fuses.

--DD

Just curious ... if it was the fuse, wouldn't the gen light never come on? I know you'll have the answer, Jerry ...

The simplified schematic above omits the tach, fuel gauge and some other electrical items powered from the battery through S9. With S9 open, now the GEN light powers (or tries to power) these items and is on. The electrical items may or may not function properly because of the large voltage drop across the GEN bulb.

Grounds....grounds everywhere...

Subscribing. I'm popping F9 now on occasion. I truly wish it was a bad ground, 'cause if one of all those wires is fooked it'll be a bear to find...

OP, how's that fuse?

3 questions:
S9 or F9 as pictured?.... not that it really matters maybe S and F are the same in German?

2nd question is more important.... where is it?

And maybe I should be prepared with a replacement.... size?

OK, nevermind... I guess I never knew the fuses were numbered, but it make sense. What is the F or S for?

I see you are right. Lots of stuff listed there. One I did not mention, but I had my wife check was the BACK-UP lights. They are out too. Maybe I was just paranoid about the speedo. Hell it was really the only thing that did work.

I hate it when you guys solve a problem for me while I am at work, then I can't go fix it (or at least check it) until AFTER WORK.....

I am feeling a sickness coming on.

Click to view attachment

That explains why the tach would register a small amount. Some other gauges did the same, just momentary flickers or attempts to work.

It's all coming together.

I am sure I would have checked the fuses this afternoon, but at least now I know exactly which one.

Thanks to all, and I will check the grounds while I am under the dash.

The German word for "fuse" is "sicherung"...

Note that the stock fuse block has its connections on the back, and they are quite close to the metal panel that holds the block. This panel is held onto the chassis with metal screws, meaning it is grounded (if often not all that well).

If your fuse block shifts a little in place, it can cause one of the connectors to momentarily touch the mounting panel, popping a fuse.

Guess which one popped on my car every few weeks if I went over bumps? Hint: The tach dropped to zero and the charging light came on...

In my case, one of the screws that holds the fuse block onto the mounting panel had gone MIA, and the block would shift sometimes when things got bouncy. I replaced the screw and I think I may have also put some split tubing along the edge of the panel to keep anything from bumping in the future.

I don't want to think about what might have happened if it had been the other side of the fused connection that had shorted to ground....

--DD

I am leaving work now, looking forward to pulling that fuse #9!

I have the JWest type that I inserted above. I will take it down and take a close look.

I was re-installing the fuse board once and the "L" shaped bracket that accepts the hold down screws had slipped under one of the relays. sparks galore...

I am much more careful now-a-days, but it is hard to be watching all the edges and brackets and corners as you wedge that wired board back in place. I probably should disconnect the battery to be safe....

TA-DA

It was the fuse. The panel is bolted up tight. I'll pull it down tomorrow and give it a once over.

Thanks to all.

Click to view attachment

Any time I drop the fuse panel I disconnect the negative cable on the battery. It's too easy to let the smoke out of wires and other items if there's a short.

When trouble shooting electrical problems, I always first check the easiest things to test. The fuse is usually the easiest to reach and look at. Check the switch is in the correct position, check that the bulb isn't burnt out. If all of them check out OK, take a deep breath and drag out the multi-meter and the wiring diagram and ask for help.

as it turns out I believe this problem to be self inflicted. I need to do some re-wiring. I need a dedicated power lead from the battery to a secondary fuse or fuse block for some of my extra gauges.

If I can get thru the summer and the fall, as is, I will put that down as a winter time project.

This #9 fuse is only 7.5 amps. IIRC it is either the smallest or next to the smallest fuse on the board.