James Pope
Member
I have a 1971 Plymouth Satellite 318. When I bought it, it had a few small electrical things that needed to be addressed, most of which were solved by just cleaning some corroded grounding points for various lights (license plate light, for example). But there's one issue I can't seem to fix: the fuel gauge. When I purchased the car, it was dead. The temperature gauge works, so the IVR is good. Then one day, the fuel gauge randomly started working. I didn't touch the ground strap, pull the cluster, or mess with wires behind the dash. It just started working and read an accurate amount of fuel based on when I had last filled up. I thought great, no worries now. Then it stopped working after I turned off the car to get a drink, came back out and it was dead again. I suspected a bad ground at the strap at the fuel tank: took it off, cleaned it, and it worked again. Then next day it was dead once again. I tried to clean the strap again but broke it, and while waiting for a new one went for a drive - and the fuel gauge was up and running once again, without the ground strap. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to when or how the gauge works, and I'm at a loss. Anyone with a bit more experience have any suggestions on what I should check?