Crown gauges

I installed a new set of Crown Fuel & Temp. gauges in my 1975 CJ-5. The gauges had the same terminal post arrangement and did not come with any install instructions. When I supplied power to the gauges, it fried the power wire. Does anyone know if these gauges require a different wiring hook up? I assumed that the gauges needed to be hooked up the same as the originals. Can anyone help me out? Thanks.

 

Shoot, Im having a problem with a Crown speedo that has spun the mph needle already and the fuel gage has not worked since installed. It has 166 miles registered on it. The odometer still rotates, but the needle just sits pointing to the bottom of the housing. I bought mine from 4wd and it has been more than a year since the purchase so they want to tell me to take a hike. I convinced them to contact Crown to see if they would stand behind it. I have'nt heard back from them.

In your case, it may be a polarity issue since the fuel gages in the Crown speedos are reversed from OEM as an example.

Good luck with warrantee on your gages. There website states that they have a 12mo/12,000mi warrantee on their products.

 

If you guys need the install instructions, email me and I can send it to you. But here's what it says:

"Before attempting to install your replacement speedometer cluster, you should be aware that it is an electrical component which is delicate and should be installed only by a qualified, knowledgeable service technician.

It is very easy to "short out" one or both of the gauges contained within the speedometer cluster if certain precautions are not taken prior to installation.

1. Battery terminals must be disconnected before removal and installation of this electrical unit.

2. All wires, including grounds, lighting indicators, gauge terminals, speedometer cable, etc. must be marked prior to removal of original cluster in order to properly reinstall them in their correct locations.

NOTE: If wires are installed incorrectly the first time, you WILL short out one or both gauges!

3. Once you have completely installed the new cluster, reconnect your battery terminals.

After completely installing your new speedometer cluster, if your fuel and/or temperature gauges are still not working properly, you may have a defective "sending unit" in your gas tank which should be replaced.

If your speedometer needle "jumps" then you may have a defective "speedometer cable" which should be replaced. "

 

Sounds like a healthy dose of CYA in those instructions ... So if the parts aren't used by an ASE certified mechanic, they aren't warrantied?

so-called "sending unit"
so-called "speedometer cable"... funny.

Crown and Omix/Ada stuff doesn't have the highest reputation for quality.

Sounds like you connected the power wire to ground. If there were a problem internal to the gauges, the gauge would die way before the wire would melt. Is there a diagram with the gauges that indicates which terminal is which? Are the terminals marked in any way, and are those markings the same as the original gauges? Uaully the gauges will be marked with a ground symbol or + or - to show the polarity.

 

I understand what you're saying, but at the same time, I understand why they would word it the way they do. Electrical parts can be difficult if the installer doesn't know exactly what they're doing, and they can be fried very easily...so is it a manufacturer/distributors fault if a DIYer improperly installed and ruined a part? I wish more products from them, as well as other companies, had more and better instructions; however, when it comes to electrical systems, sometimes it's better left to the professionals.

Even though I think you're very knowledgable when it comes to things here Timgr, I think that's a somewhat bold and not fair statement regarding their quality. With Omix I'll agree I've personally seen MANY quality issues for a variety of different Jeep model parts...but with Crown, if something is wrong, they correct it and most always have better quality than most cheap imported products you see floating around. They generally offer more hard to find parts and have been around for 65 years doing only Jeep replacement parts.

 

I just replaced my new speedo cluster with another one because the fuel and temp gauges never worked right. This time I bought one from Q-tech and it ended up being a VDO with the "F" and "E" and the "H" and "C" in the correct factory positions (instead of the usual China reverse). As I recall the terminals were in a different position on the back.

 

Thanks for the dose of reality. Yes, I shouldn't be so negative about their part's quality. It's good that Crown offers parts for these vehicles, and my sample is too small and too much based on hearsay to make a judgement.

When I worked parts counter, we had a policy "no return on electrical parts" mostly to prevent people from buying and returning parts to test their trouble theories. However, I think that the possibility of the parts suffering due to mitt-fisted installers should be baked into the price, and Crown should expect some returns for exchange. Defective parts, whether truly defective or the victim of improper installation, should likely be accepted. We used to accept stuff for exchange on the flimsiest of reasons, but never for return. The CYA statement from Crown struck me as rather, uh, "sweeping."

 

Understood...I know that was an old 'basic' instructions sheet that I obtained and figured it might help or answer some basic questions. I don't know if there is an updated one or not but that could be nice.

I know from experience they're very open and reasonable when it comes to exchanges/replacement parts if there's an issue...and there is a technical person that's always looking into any reported issues and questions.

 

Thanks for everyone's assistance and thoughts. I received an e-mail from the folks I bought the gauges from, and was advised that the gauges should be wired the same as the factory ones. What I found, is that I failed to get the temp. gauge centered in the cluster, which shorted out the power wire. Once I re-alligned the gauge in the cluster, everything worked fine. Thanks again for everyone's help.