newbie needs help with WT and gauges

[rskdsk]

I have had my car for a few days now and have noticed that the gauges shut on and off while I am driving and I also notice that the temperature varies a lot.  Today on the way home it started reading 273 and stayed there until I got home.  I did a seach, but nothing the same as this ... any ideas?

[Karl]

There was a band-aid "fix" for the gauges periodically shutting off, involving a very large electrolytic capacitor tied into the dash power lines. There should be at least one thread about it on this forum. If you need to add the fix yourself, you'll probably want the SPA ktidash manual to track down the correct wires. The parts you can get from a place like jameco.com, or maybe even your neighborhood Radio Shack.

[rskdsk]

I found a thread that seems to indicate that because I had my lights on this may have caused my temp indicator to go haywire + I probably need to clean some grounds

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="Karl"]
There was a band-aid "fix" for the gauges periodically shutting off, involving a very large electrolytic capacitor tied into the dash power lines. There should be at least one thread about it on this forum. If you need to add the fix yourself, you'll probably want the SPA ktidash manual to track down the correct wires. The parts you can get from a place like jameco.com, or maybe even your neighborhood Radio Shack.
[/quote]

That "fix" was something I gave Brammo while they were trying to track down the underlying problem.

Part of the issue is that the SPA dashes (both the standard Kitdash and the Microdash) are quite sensitive for something intended for automotive use. I also believe (through my own research, not confirmed by SPA) that those dashes are both contract designs and they don't have a lot of information about the inner workings of the dash.

For those who are interested, the actual wiring fix for the dash is documented on my web site here. Note that I describe it as "for reference only" and I don't suggest people perform it if things are working well enough for them now.

[rskdsk]

Yikkes with that many disclaimers and warning I am afraid to even grab a screwdriver.  BUT, I'll have to do something