Driving without instrument cluster

[dmcindiana]

Folks, is it okay to drive without the instrument cluster? I have the binnacle out for restoration and need to get to a local shop while that's going on. I see some comments that the alternator won't charge the battery with the battery bulb out. Confirm? Do I absolutely need to get the cluster back in there propped up somehow? Any other ill effects?

[WHO1DMC]

Folks, is it okay to drive without the instrument cluster? I have the binnacle out for restoration and need to get to a local shop while that's going on. I see some comments that the alternator won't charge the battery with the battery bulb out. Confirm? Do I absolutely need to get the cluster back in there propped up somehow? Any other ill effects?

I'm not giving a go ahead but theoretically you should be fine if you're not going far. Make sure the battery is well charged and you will get hyper flash on turn signals if running OG flasher.




Dave B.

[dmcnc]

Correct, the alternator will not charge unless you close the battery circuit on the dash.

[dmcindiana]

Sounds good, guys, thanks. It?s worth the trouble to get the cluster back in. I just got the yucky news that my binnacle is unrestorable anyway, so back in the whole thing goes for now.

[ssdelorean]

>>snip<< I just got the yucky news that my binnacle is unrestorable anyway, so back in the whole thing goes for now.

Is it too far gone for a cover?
https://store.delorean.com/binnacle-gray-recover-material-only.html

[Josh]

You could pop a 500 ohm (ish) resistor across the leads to the alternator light, or just go for it if you are not driving far.

[JohnZ]

I chime in to share my experience!

I recently had the binnacle removed with the purpose of installing a new pcb. At the same time I had the car to a place where my cousin was replacing the clutch. Long story short: I drove about 45 miles without my binnacle on, and we keep the car operative for diagnosys purposes for at least 45 minutes after the clutch was done and I went to collect the car. Nothing ever happened that made me suggest that the battery was dying...

Is this considered a short trip? Or do I have an alternator that does not require the battery light crap to actually work?

Just curious... :nana2:

PS: of course even with the new pcb the instrument cluster is missing some lights: the oil light, the turning signals light and the high/low beam lights... I gotta figure the thing out :8ball:

[bytes311]

A few years ago, I encountered an issue with my instrument cluster PCB where it had become severely delaminated. As a result, the temperature fluctuations in the car would cause the PCB contacts to expand, disrupting the connection to the battery light. This led to various problems with the ignition system. My car would suddenly lose acceleration, as if it were starving for fuel, and the tach would freeze at 1000 RPM. I'd also hear clunking noises from the engine bay, though I could never determine if it was a misfire or the distributor self-destructing. Based on my own experience, driving without a binnacle doesn't seem like it would be good for the car, but it sounds like some people have done it successfully, so YMMV!

[JBaker4981]

I chime in to share my experience!

I recently had the binnacle removed with the purpose of installing a new pcb. At the same time I had the car to a place where my cousin was replacing the clutch. Long story short: I drove about 45 miles without my binnacle on, and we keep the car operative for diagnosys purposes for at least 45 minutes after the clutch was done and I went to collect the car. Nothing ever happened that made me suggest that the battery was dying...

Is this considered a short trip? Or do I have an alternator that does not require the battery light crap to actually work?

Just curious... :nana2:

PS: of course even with the new pcb the instrument cluster is missing some lights: the oil light, the turning signals light and the high/low beam lights... I gotta figure the thing out :8ball:

Driving without the Binnacle is not good for the car.

The alternator circuit is completed via the Incandescent Bulb in the battery spot of your Binnacle. This bulb is required to complete the circuit and without the Binnacle, you are starving your Battery as absolutely no current will be delivered from the car to the battery.

You got LUCKY. When the battery dies while you are driving, you will lose your Cooling Fans, your Fuel Pump, Radio, etc... the whole car will eventually starve for fuel and die.

As for your bulbs not coming on - the orientation of the bulb sockets connected to the PCB matters. If you have any that do not work, take it out and put it back in the other way. Polarity! (Tip from Experience: Hook up the harnesses to the Binnacle and turn the car on and test prior to mounting that sucker.)

[dn010]

....Meanwhile, I've driven many vehicles including the D with a failed or no alternator/generator at all and have made it to my destination just fine. I've beaten up many batteries that have still lasted many years. I'm happy it worked out for you as well.

[JohnZ]

It's weird because I didn't have any evidence at all that the battery was eventually draining. We even restarted the car several times and had it going at idle to check a couple of things together, fans went on and off several times, and the next day the car fired up like a champ! So it was as if everything was working properly as usual! I would assume that the car was driven for about two hours totally with no binnacle. Maybe the electric consumption of the D is not that high? I don't know! :)

Anyway, glad that everything was ok! And thanks Jesse, I'll definitely try out your methods to make that "sucker" of an instrument panel work properly again! :)

[dn010]

Only way to know for sure what is going on is to put a volt meter on the battery while you're running without the cluster and see what voltage you're getting.

[Bitsyncmaster]

You got my interest.

I just tested my cars current draw at idle with nothing on. Used my clamp on DC current meter set at 20 amp scale and current draw is 12.25 amps at idle. Now my voltage at idle is quite high at 14.5 volts so if your running without the alternator I would expect that current draw is a little less.

I measured that current on the wire feeding the battery feed through bolt in the coil cover area.

You may get a little higher (maybe half amp) because I have the RPM, Lambda, and AUX relays solid state, which are the relays running with engine on.

Door closed and E brake off so those lights are not on.

[David T]

Assuming you are starting out with a good battery and it is fully charged, and the electrical system is in good "knick", the car should run for a while. Of course it will depend on how much you also use any accessories like lights, fans, radio, etc because any extra loads will shorten how long the battery can maintain enough voltage to run the ignition system. Either the motor will start to miss because the ignition ECU doesn't have enough voltage or if you shut off the motor the starter won't have enough power from the battery to restart the motor. Driving at night with the lights on or a lot of traffic and the brake lights coming on will shorten the length of time you can run. One car I had, (not a Delorean), when the charging system failed, I could always tell because the radio would lose stations. A battery pack will extend your range. Another thing to remember, as the voltage decreases the amperage draw will go up so you may start popping fuses.

[JohnZ]

Of course we are all talking about a case study, because nobody which was sound in mind would drive under those conditions willfully... It would just be an emergency kind of attitude. Nevertheless it's good to speculate about it, and/or do the maths!

Inviato dal mio moto g42 utilizzando Tapatalk