temp/fuel gauge voltage limiter

[John Reddie]

The other day I had my '67 Fury out for a drive and noticed both of theses gauges were pegged all the way up. Before I got home the temp went back as far as it could (almost out of sight) which leads me to believe that gauge it is done for. I have disconnected both from their sending units and have 2 extra gauges in my stash. Has anyone here dealt with faulty voltage limiters and can I still find new ones? I have two spares from saved clusters which test out okay but where it is time consuming to change one, maybe a new limiter would be best. Can new limiter capacitors be purchased as well? Thanks as always for any info here.
John

 

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@safeforward look recently posted this:
One other common problem that our cars have is very old voltage limiters but I note that electronic replacement ones are now available from companies such as Herbs Parts which is owned by AMS Obsolete

 

[1970FuryConv]

The other day I had my '67 Fury out for a drive and noticed both of theses gauges were pegged all the way up. Before I got home the temp went back as far as it could (almost out of sight) which leads me to believe that gauge it is done for. I have disconnected both from their sending units and have 2 extra gauges in my stash. Has anyone here dealt with faulty voltage limiters and can I still find new ones? I have two spares from saved clusters which test out okay but where it is time consuming to change one, maybe a new limiter would be best. Can new limiter capacitors be purchased as well? Thanks as always for any info here.
John

I'd use the old one that tests OK. Sometimes, older is better.

 

[CBODY67]

Wasn't there a transistorized version that came in FMJ cars?

 

[Davea Lux]

www.rockauto.com has reproduction units.

Dave

 

[John Reddie]

Thanks for the helpful info. Can a points distributor capacitor be used here or is the voltage limiter restricted to a certain type. I haven't been able to find any of these listed for a Mopar limiter.

 

[cbarge]

I use these exclusively..very reliable.
Any time the gauges are peggedcwith 12 volts it risks damaging the gauges.
Since the cluster will be out best to swap in working gauges or NOS units.
RTE limiter - rte

 

[Davea Lux]

Thanks for the helpful info. Can a points distributor capacitor be used here or is the voltage limiter restricted to a certain type. I haven't been able to find any of these listed for a Mopar limiter.

The voltage limiter will work without the noise limiting capacitor its primary purpose was to keep static down on the radio. The noise limiter capacitor is a different type of capacitor than the ones used in a distributor. The noise limiter rarely failed, so it would probably be ok to reuse it.

Dave

 

[saforwardlook]

I'd use the old one that tests OK. Sometimes, older is better.

I use these exclusively..very reliable.
Any time the gauges are peggedcwith 12 volts it risks damaging the gauges.
Since the cluster will be out best to swap in working gauges or NOS units.
RTE limiter - rte

@cbarge has it right. This is the one I now use in all my cars - they are solid state devices and should last a lifetime. They will also automatically prevent any gauges from burning out and they optically let you know when able to view them to ensure they are working just fine (they blink). These are the ones sold by Herb's Parts. Excellent upgrades.

I don't understand why anyone would recommend going with the originals only to have to replace the fuel gauge or others when the originals limiters go bad. Replacing the fuel gauge often requires the whole instrument cluster to come out and be torn down almost completely just to replace one. I just had to do it on one of my 71 Chryslers and it is no fun.

 

[saforwardlook]

The voltage limiter will work without the noise limiting capacitor its primary purpose was to keep static down on the radio. The noise limiter capacitor is a different type of capacitor than the ones used in a distributor. The noise limiter rarely failed, so it would probably be ok to reuse it.

Dave

With the use of the Real Time Engineering solid state device, the directions say explicitly that you can just remove and throw away that capacitor. The solid state devices cause no such static by design.

 

[Davea Lux]

With the use of the Real Time Engineering solid state device, the directions say explicitly that you can just remove and throw away that capacitor. The solid state devices cause no such static by design.

True if the op is going to use an electronic replacement for a driver. If this is going to someday be a points restoration, then the OEM style limiter and static capacitor should be retained. Pionts inspectors do look up and under the dash!

Dave

 

[saforwardlook]

True if the op is going to use an electronic replacement for a driver. If this is going to someday be a points restoration, then the OEM style limiter and static capacitor should be retained. Pionts inspectors do look up and under the dash!

Dave

On the fuselage Chrysler models, most had plastic covers below the steering columns that really obscure viewing the limiters from down below.

Even if they could take away points for an electronic limiter, I wouldn't care. I am not risking my gauges when using the original limiters when they ultimately fail. Personally I have never seen a judge looking over one of our C bodies that carefully. They might even take points off for use of a dual master cylinder, but again I also wouldn't care if replacing a single pot one. Safety is paramount.

I have received many trophies in the past but they all sit in a corner of my garage and I will probably just throw them all out soon because they just take up room. I don't really care whether I receive one or not. The tough one to please is me, not the judges.

 

[SA67NEWPORT]

I designed and made my own solid state voltage limiter since I had parts to do so laying around. I can say that technically there is no need for that capacitor in a properly designed solid state device. It has been removed in my car and the only noise on the AM radio comes from the points ignition.

 

[John Reddie]

I just wanted to say that I purchased a voltage limiter from RTE limiter Co. and they are great to deal with. I am still recovering from the accident I had back in October and haven't been able to replace my failed limiter yet but I am sure that this new one will be fine. Thanks again for the info.
John