What year did Ford institute the analog idiot light?

[Agnem]

Added another nice touch to the Bronco over the weekend. Swapped out the gasser instrument cluster for a nice diesel one. In the process though, the factory oil and temp gauges lost their functionality. I noticed the new cluster had two resistors soldered on the back that the old one didn't have. My thinking is that these gauges take a different sender then what the 84' used, and that were compatible with the 87'. When did the gauges cease being gauges, and just become "centered needled"? Of course I have real gauges installed, so the functionality loss is not an issue, but I would like to have the gauges move when I turn the key on just for the entertainment value.

 

[Mont91]

My '84 ranger and Bronco II have idiot gauges, my '88 350, '91 250 and '97 Aerostar have idiot gauges. So I am guessing the F series got them with the redesigned dash in '88, the Ranger got them when launched in '83 and the Aerostar when launched in '86.

Hold the phone. Let me check my wiring chart. '87-'89 used the same setup, '84-'86 used the same setup.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Using Autozone's website, 1988 is the last year that it asks with gauge or light. However, for 1989 they DO have a sending unit listed for a gauge. Maybe the change was somewhere in the 1989 year?

 

[The Warden]

I thought that the "idiot needle" was used since at least 1980? I know that my old '84 E-350 had "idiot gauges", and the gauge sending units in my truck were long gone before I even got it...

 

[typ4]

When I had the 460 in the truck I jumped the resistor in the dash with a small wire and used a pre 88, 'big can' sending unit, guage worked well, not centered.
russ

 

[Agnem]

Sounds like an option. Who can give me a link to a set of 1990 schematics?