# Ford 2600 gauge cluster frustrations



## Ole man (Jun 28, 2017)

New guy here, love this site. I need a little advice on a ford 2600 that I'm putting a new gauge cluster in. The temperature gauge and fuel level gauges don't work, I shorted both to ground and the needles peg ! My main concern is the temp gauge, I replaced the temp sending unit and when I turned the key on the needle went to about the halfway point, ran the tractor at idle for about 10 minutes and the gauge showed hot, but I know the engine wasn't running hot. Is it possible that my new sending unit is not of the correct resistance for the new gauge cluster ? Any advice might be helpful, Thanks.


----------



## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Ole man, welcome to the tractor forum.

Your instrument cluster has a voltage stabilizer. First thing to check is your wiring to the instrument panel. Usually the power is labeled 'B' and the temperature sender is an 'S' or maybe 'T'... depending on the brand of cluster.

There are some aftermarket clusters that are set up for a higher resistance sending unit. This is because of two different resistance sending units. The higher resistance sender is the more modern unit. 

Confirm with your dealer that you have the correct temperature sending unit for your 2600. Also confirm that it is working correctly. Measure the resistance of the one you have and another new one. 

As I understand it, my Ford 3600 uses a higher resistance sender with a 3/8" NPT connection. There is an earlier low resistance sender that uses 1/8" NPT. So you may need to buy a sender for a 3600 and a brass reducer bushing to get it to fit your tractor.

Good luck, and let us know what you find.


----------



## Ole man (Jun 28, 2017)

Thanks a bunch sixbales,
This little tractor blew a fuse a little bit ago, I found 1 side of the voltage stabilizer shorted to ground, I opened the stabilizer up and found 1 end of the little resistor wire shorted to the case. Just picked up another sending unit, and ordered a new stabilizer.
When my new stalilizer comes in, I'll try this again and see what happens.
Again, Thanks a bunch !


----------

