Re: 2 questions to ask

Posted by HH56 On 2015/7/21 17:46:00

On the temp gauge problem it was found the early senders had an issue and were slightly mis-calibrated making the gauge read a bit higher overall than owners were used to. To correct the reading and particularly if it was a problem an owner complained about, the new "regulator" consisted of a resistor in the voltage supply to the gauge. I've not seen a car with the regulator added to measure the resistance but expect it was less than 10 ohms -- maybe half that. It was a quick, inexpensive and easy to add "fix".

The added resistance and slightly lower current to the temp gauge changed the high end response so when used with the original sender resistance it moved the needle just enough the gauge would read slightly lower at the higher end and would be more within the range expected. The sender problem was corrected in mid 53 by changing the sender to one with a different calibration. If your car is a 54 it should have had the recalibrated sender and would not have or need the extra "regulator".

If a new type sender was added to a car with the regulator the regulator was supposed to be removed because the two were not to be used together. If your original sender was replaced with NOS and was one of the older style then it might benefit from the regulator. Without knowing the value of the resistor it would take some experimentation or finding a real item.