Is the volt meter repairable?

[snowball]

Hi all,

I noticed the thread on the amp meter and figured I would give it a shot.

Is the volt meter repairable? I know I'm getting voltage on mine. I could read it with my DMM.

Analog meter always reads 9V. I can move it by hand but goes back to 9V

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by snowball

Hi all,

I noticed the thread on the amp meter and figured I would give it a shot.

Is the volt meter repairable? I know I'm getting voltage on mine. I could read it with my DMM.

Analog meter always reads 9V. I can move it by hand but goes back to 9V

Typically voltmeters measure system voltage, either battery voltage or charging voltage. Unless you have high resistance at the meter connections, you should be reading battery voltage or alternator charging voltage. If you are having problems with dim lights or no starts, I would suspect that the voltmeter is faulty. If your DVM is reading 12 volts on the battery and 14.5 volts with the engine running, and 9 volts on the vehicle voltmeter, you have a problem with the volt meter. What do you mean you can move it by hand?

[snowball]

Thank you sir. Yes. 12 V on the battery, 14.5 while running and VM reads 9v

I can physically move the needle on the VM and it goes back to 9V. just making sure the gauge is not seized or anything.

Thank you in advance for all your help. I really appreciate it.

[63unibody]

Sounds like the resistor might be bad?

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by 63unibody

Sounds like the resistor might be bad?

These resistors usually fail open circuit, resulting in the gauge not responding at all. But it's possible that the resistor failed and someone replaced it with an incorrect (higher resistance) one off a different gauge. Or like VetteVet said, there could be some extra resistance in the circuit (due to corrosion, weak connection, etc) that is causing the abnormally low reading.

Another possibility could be that someone removed the needle (maybe to repaint it) and didn't position it correctly when they put it back on. They're just a press fit onto a tiny round shaft.

[snowball]

No. it's not responding at all. points to 10 oclock no matter what I do. Guauge should go down to 12V when acc is on and 14V when running. Never moves.