6 replies to this topic

[MikeJE]

Dear forumites - grateful for your help. I have a 1962 woody that has been converted to negative earth. The fuel gauge stopped working, which I traced to a faulty sender unit. I replaced the sender unit (from minispares) and the gauge worked again, but in the opposite sense: it shows empty when full and vice versa. This hasn't been a problem but I now want to change the gauge (it is a silver gauge in a black speedo) and want to make sure I get the right one. Am I correct in thinking I need to obtain a standard gauge (such as this one https://www.minispar...|Back to search) and only reverse the wires on the gauge to make it work the correct way? Or is there something else I need to do to make it work properly? A secondary question: can I simply fit a voltage regulator (for example https://www.minispar...ck to catalogue) to dampen the gauge's movement?

 

Very grateful for any advice

 

Best wishes

 

Mike

[slidehammer]

To start with I would try reversing the wires on the tank sender unit to see if that corrects the fuel gauge reading backwards. Your year of mini didn't have a voltage regulator, so you might have to alter the wiring on the back of the Speedo head to accommodate one. I am not sure I would bother with a voltage regulator if the car didn't come with one. When I converted my 1969 Mini to negative earth the only wires I had to swap around to get it all working properly were the coil wires and the battery wires not the wiring to the gauges. I would check with Minispares if that is the right gauge for your car as it seems to be the only one they do, if not look on ebay, you will probably get one in a speedo

[timmy850]

A 1962 mini has a non-regulated gauge and sender
Later minis have a regulated gauge, sender, plus the actual voltage regulator

The ohm reading of the senders aren’t compatible, as you’ve seen they read opposite and have a much different range (don’t reverse the wires)

The options are:
Have a matching system from end to end
Use a gauge wizard which converts any sender to work with any gauge
https://spiyda.com/f...wizard-mk3.html

Edited by timmy850, 13 February 2024 - 08:23 PM.

[Magneto]

Don't reverse the wires at the sender! 

[Spider]

It is a bit difficult with these gauges. They are a '3 terminal' gauge, but the issue is they don't have a separate (insulated) Earth Terminal, as that is directly connected to the case of the gauge. If it was a separate terminal, you'd reverse the B and G terminal connections.

As well as the options that Tim has suggested, you can also convert the Gauge System to the later type that uses the stabaliser.

 

[MikeJE]

To start with I would try reversing the wires on the tank sender unit to see if that corrects the fuel gauge reading backwards. Your year of mini didn't have a voltage regulator, so you might have to alter the wiring on the back of the Speedo head to accommodate one. I am not sure I would bother with a voltage regulator if the car didn't come with one. When I converted my 1969 Mini to negative earth the only wires I had to swap around to get it all working properly were the coil wires and the battery wires not the wiring to the gauges. I would check with Minispares if that is the right gauge for your car as it seems to be the only one they do, if not look on ebay, you will probably get one in a speedo

Many thanks for responding. The sender unit has only one terminal so reversing the wires on that isn't an option, sadly. I think you're right about looking on Ebay for the correct gauge. Most grateful for your advice

[MikeJE]

A 1962 mini has a non-regulated gauge and sender
Later minis have a regulated gauge, sender, plus the actual voltage regulator

The ohm reading of the senders aren’t compatible, as you’ve seen they read opposite and have a much different range (don’t reverse the wires)

The options are:
Have a matching system from end to end
Use a gauge wizard which converts any sender to work with any gauge
https://spiyda.com/f...wizard-mk3.html

Never seen a gauge wizard, Tim. What a clever idea! I will go down this route if I cannot find a matching system. Why does everything have to be complicated! Many thanks for responding, much appreciated.