Fuel gauge question

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MoparBrit

HillingdonDart
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Rio Rancho, NM
Hi all,

Had a bit of time to look at the instrument cluster I finally got out of the car. Going to do that voltage box replacement on the back of it. Mucking about with the VOM and get continuity across the temp prongs on the back, but nothing on the fuel gauge prongs. I'm wondering if the gauge finally fried or something.

What was happening was the fuel gauge would work one day for most of the day and then the rest of the month it didn't do a thing. Temp gauge works all the time. So, thought it might be the sender. Turned the key on and grounded the wire at the tank. No change, needle stayed below empty in the same position it is in when the car it turned off.

Sound like the gauge is bad or I'm I thinking incorrectly on how it works and no continuity is how it should be? Any other bench test?

Just don't want to do the voltage thing, get it all put together and then have a bad gauge so I have to pull all out again.

As a note, does anyone have a working fuel guage they want to part with just in case I need one????????????????????????

Here is the type cluster I have in the car.

Cheers

dash.jpg
 
all the gauges contain identical components (rallye excluded) and operate within the same ohms range. If it reads infinate resistance or zero resistance the gauge is dead.
 
The only other thing I can think to do is make sure you have 12V at the fuel sender plug. You don't say if you measured that or not. As a general rule; if you have 12V at the plug and ground the fuel sender wire, and get zero reading on the fuel gauge, the gauge is dead. Sorry about the bad news.
A bad ground strap across the rubber fuel line leading out of the sender will cause the problem you are describing, but by grounding the hot side the ground strap is effectively removed from the circuit and is not an issue. If you ground the hot lead and the fuel gauge works, then quits when you reconnect the hot lead to the sender, you may have a bad ground strap or sender.
 
grumpuscreature said:
The only other thing I can think to do is make sure you have 12V at the fuel sender plug. You don't say if you measured that or not. As a general rule; if you have 12V at the plug and ground the fuel sender wire, and get zero reading on the fuel gauge, the gauge is dead. Sorry about the bad news.
A bad ground strap across the rubber fuel line leading out of the sender will cause the problem you are describing, but by grounding the hot side the ground strap is effectively removed from the circuit and is not an issue. If you ground the hot lead and the fuel gauge works, then quits when you reconnect the hot lead to the sender, you may have a bad ground strap or sender.
Click to expand...
Wrong ! only GM vehicles have 12volt gauge circuits. Everything else operates via a voltage regulator or limiter which produces pulses of 2.5 to 3.5 volts. That pulse will make a digital VOM crazy too. You'll need a analog meter to test it.
 
Back in.

Cluster is out of the car so I'm testing across the terminals through the back of it. Get no continuity between the prongs sticking out the back of the cluster. I do on the temp so thought perhaps the gauge is a gonner.

Have the cluster out to replace that regulator plugged into the back of it with that chip deal. Got all the bits from Radio Shack to do it, but by what I'm thinking and what has been posted so far the gauge is bad so I'll need to find another.

Sound right?

If so, anyone got a gauge that matches my dash or even a whole cluster to match that has a working petrol gauge in it?

Cheers
 
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