hello guys im new to this thread not to the forum i have a durango anywas. i recently bought a 86 ram w250 and my gauges dont work the speedo does work and they all stay them same when i start it i pulled the insturment cluster today and the back looks rusty idk how and i dont have no rear tailights running or brake but reverse and plate light works any ideas?

 

the speedo is mechanical so unless the cable breaks it will keep working. first placed you may want to start is the fuse panel. first you want to check to see if all the fuses are good. if they are all good then you will to check to see if there is power at all the fuses. some fuses only have power when the key is in the accessories or run position. if that does not make your gauges start working then you may have a bad voltage regulator(metal box) on the back of your gauge cluster.

 

ok everything is good now where do i get a regulator?

 

I would figure out what the problem is with the tail lights first and see if the fix takes care of the gauge problem.

 

what do you mean by "everything is good now". does that mean you had a couple of bad fuses and now everything is working good again? if all the gauges are working again i would not worry about replacing it since it is about a $30 part and it does not do the job that great. part is called Instrument Cluster Voltage Regulator. or if you are good with electronics you could build your own for about $5.
http://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/electrical2.html

 

my tail light wiring somebody tried to hook up there un trailer plug in and didnt do such a great job. as far as the gauges go nothing and no blown fuse thats what i ment by everythings good fuse wise now where do i go from there?

 

did you test for power at the gauge fuse? the gauge fuse should have a 3 amp fuse in it i think. the reason you want to test for power at the fuses when you are trouble shooting is to tell if the problem is between the battery and fuse panel or between fuses panel and all the electrical things.

 

i do get power to that gauage fuse and unplugged the cluster and chacked with the test light i get power to those too

 

all the guages share a single power source. is there 5v at each gauge? if there is power at each gauge i would guess your problem is between the gauges and the sensor that they are hooked up to. i would start by checking the coolant temp sensor. it is on the passenger side of the intake at the very front. there should be only 1 wire going to it. if you ground it the gauge should should move as high as it can go. the oil pressure sensor is back by the distributor and same deal. single wire that if you ground then the gauge should go as high as it can. gas sending unit works the same way but has 2 wires going to it since the gas tanks are plastic. 1 is ground and the other goes to the gauge.