Hey there-
Just inherited a '76 280z from my elderly (83) father. Of course the clock isn't working and hasn't for 15 years or so. But I also noticed the voltage gauge was almost pinned at the right of the gauge. I read the forums about bad voltage regulators, etc., so I went out and tested at the battery with a multimeter. The battery was reading 12+ with the car off. And a little more when running, and topped out at 13.7 or so when the car was held at a steady 2500 rpm. Okay, so relief there.
Then I found a post about adjusting the gauge with a screwdriver from the back. This allowed me to move the needle from dead right, but the range of the adjustment wasn't near enough to get the needle where it should be. So thinking there was a short I disconnected the gauge and used the multimeter to probe the leads running into the gauge. Same reading as battery. And that's when I noticed something strange. The voltage gauge was reading a positive 6-7 volts or so while disconnected. And not coincidentally, that is almost exactly how far off it is at the other end when connected.
So the gauge won't "zero". I took it out of the bezel and it looks like a very simple analog gauge. I can understand why when power is applied it is deflected to the right. But I don't understand what would cause it to float above it's little bump stop when there is no power running to it at all. And it's not frozen there. While handling the gauge it freely bounces around, and when I had it out of the bezel, I could easily push it over to the left with my finger.
Any help would be appreciated.
Tai