Fuel gauge problems

[Fredrik Günther]

Hi!
Where should i start to look when my fuel gague is not working has never worked as long as i have owned the car. whats the most common place to start to look for problems

Regards

 

[Demonic]

Welcome to the forum. Help us out - what particular car? Does the temperature gauge work ( if it has one)? If the temp gauge is not working either:

Remove the wire from the fuel sender and check with a voltmeter between the sender wire and ground. If there is a "pulse" - about 11-12 volts cycling off and on whth the key in the on position, the voltage limiter for the fuel gauge is good. The voltage limiter typically drives the fuel, oil and temp gauges on rallye clusters, fuel and temp on std clusters. It's on the back of the cluster. If it is bad, you've found your problem.

 

[Outlawd]

Check the clamp on style ground strap from the sending unit to the metal fuel line if its gone or not well seated your gauge will not work properly. You can also fish into the tank with a long piece of rod and manually lift the float to see if it moves the dash gauge, easy way to check it before replacing it.

 

[Mopar2u]

If the gage is always at/below empty, and your gage and wiring checks out per previous spot-on posts - It's very likely the brass float has a hole in it. Fairly easy to fix once you have the sending unit out of the tank.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Another good trick.... disconnect the single wire going to the sending unit and ground it. The gauge should go completely to full if the wiring/gauge are good