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adding a voltmeter


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I’ve been wanting to add a voltmeter to my 3.2 as a way of keeping an eye on the charging system. I liked the idea of adding an analogue gauge in the base of the tach but the price of roughly $750 USD from the likes of Hollywood Speedometers was a bit eye watering. So I settled on https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200627678428 and installed it in the dash in place of an old alarm LED between the speedometer and the clock. Looks fine and should do the business. I wired it to the power supply for the fuel gauge (had recently removed it so i knew it would come out without a fight, unlike the others). I’m sure there’s a bit of voltage drop but for relative battery/charging system health purposes it will do fine.

44A200DC-0FE1-4CC7-8EA0-EDD57DBACCD9.jpeg

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Somewhere I still have the VDO voltmeter that I took out of my 1977 Scirocco when it was scrapped in 87 after succumbing to the rust bug. But I preferred a less obstructive alternative.

The light will also act as another indicator of a broken fan belt.

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16 hours ago, Busybee said:

Don’t you already have this in the form of your charge warning light? Glows red if your alternator fails? 

I had a faulty Alternator for several months, no flickering red light or any other signs apart from some of the gauges were reading wrong and slow to turn over. 

Eventually the battery went flat and it took two attempts to diagnose the problem.

If a Voltmeter would have highlighted this issue at its on set then it's a worthwhile addition.

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That gauge is 52mm in diameter whereas the clock is 80mm.

North Hollywood or Palo Alto will make pretty much any gauge you want but the price will quickly hit 4 figures USD.

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54 minutes ago, Beaky said:

.If a Voltmeter would have highlighted this issue at its on set then it's a worthwhile addition.

How did you keep the cars going over several months - by trickle charging when not in use?

if yes I think that light would have indicated something was amiss and further checks were warranted.

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11 minutes ago, sopor said:

How did you keep the cars going over several months - by trickle charging when not in use?

Correctly, each time it came off the trickle charger it would turn over very slowly but start.

On the way to Wayne's i stayed over at a local B&B and it was flat, but I put that down to the freezing temperature. and the foot deep snow.

Then one day actually at the garage, it went flat and they did a full diagnostic on it and found the fault.

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