Question: Issues with gauges. 1979 Purple Corvette

[Atkinsonaa7]

So I just recently picked up my first corvette, a 1979 coupe in purple (odd color I know). I have loved the look and style of corvettes since as young as I can remember, so when I found here i had to get her. I knew she needed some love and that's just what I plan to do. She runs great and I have no real issues with engine aside from the fact I may need to rebuild or just buy a new carb. Aside from that ,however, I only have a couple of gauges that work and I'm not sure even where to start so I thought I might ask for some common problems y'all might know about. I have 2 gauges that work currently. I've got a working tachometer and working voltage, that is it. My main priority will be my Speedometer, then my oil pressure, and gas. Any help yall could give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Welcome to the CAC

Does your speedo needle move at all? Does it have cruise control? The easiest thing to check first is the plastic driven gear on the adapter where the speedo cable goes into the transmission. The teeth could be stripped or worn away. After that I would check the cable shaft or shafts if it has cruise. if all that is good it could be the speedo head.

Check your oil pressure sending unit to be sure the wire is connected. Same for the temperature sender. Sometimes if you just go over the wiring and check the connections you can get things working. A little corrosion will cause a lot of problems.

Tom

 

[Atkinsonaa7]

Awesome Advice.

Alright ,so first thing, no it doesn't even budge it stays just sat in the bottom left. I do not have cruise but i can go ahead and check those wires and then i will get back to you on the thread as soon as i can.

and ill also go ahead and check that cable from the sending unit.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

The speedo is purely mechanical drive so start with looking for a broken cable or drive gears.

 

[bill81vette]

Welcome to CAC!!!!
If this is your first vette,you should consider getting the factory service manual and assembly instruction manual,as these will help you repair your vette.

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[dougelam]

Do not replace your carb, rebuild it if at all possible!
If you buy a rebuilt unit there is no guarantee it will be the correct one for your engine.
There are too many different combinations and most of the time the engine ends up with issues that can't be resolved.
If you can't do it we can tell you how

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