Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

[ndemge]

Same '71 Van.... lets test some more mechanics...<br /><br />Fuel Gauge shows 1/4 tank when full. When the guage shows empty, it will hold 18 gallons.<br /><br />This is consistant.<br /><br />No idea how big the tank is, anywhere between 22-30+ gallons.<br /><br />Does this sound like Gauge, or sender in the tank?<br /><br />Could a piece of the float be broken off? <br /><br />How do I trouble shoot?... works by variable resister correct?... is Full tank highest resistance, or no resistance? (so how to check gauge?)

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

Ok, the van should have a 0-90 ohm sender in it, if it is original. So if you disconnect the sender from the gauge and turn your key on, the gauge will peg above F. If you then short the Sender to ground the gauge will go slightly below E. If it does this your gauge is good.<br /><br />What it sounds like to me is someone had a problem with the sender, took out the original 0-90 ohm sender and replaced it with the common 240-33 ohm sender.

 

[ndemge]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

.....sender in the tank?

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

Yup, BTW how is the not smoking going?

 

[ndemge]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

29 days without even a drag.<br /><br />Wife asked me to pick up smokes for her when I was out to lunch, picked up 2 packs, put them in my pocket, the thought of opening it up and lighting one never even entered my mind. is out of the question. Thanks for asking <br /><br />.. assuming gauge is good, access hole will be cut in the floor, I'm not dropping that tank.<br /><br />...I've got more body repairs than you can imagine.... installing an access panel is nuthin

 

[ndemge]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

So how bout you?

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

Fill your tank up, and remove the sender wire from the gauge. Take a multimeter and take the resistance reading from the sender wire to chassis ground. Should be somewhere around 90 ohms, if it is much lower (like 30-35 ohms) your gauge is more than likely incompatible.<br /><br />You could also replace the gauge to match the sender, may be easier than cutting <br /><br />4 weeks to the day without butts for me. Went to a party a couple weeks ago, had a few drinks and oh boy did I want a smoke. Didn't do it though Good job to you too

 

[ndemge]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

My god man! Do you know what it costs to fill a tank these days!!!!

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

Good point...run your tank empty, then do as before, resistance reading should be between 0-5 ohms!!<br /><br />How come you got away with saying "god" without having it edited like in the other posts <br /><br />testing...god...God...hmmm, I don't know

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

To test the sender in your tank remove the <br />power wire from the sender and touch it too <br />ground while looking at the gauge.<br />If the gauge reads full. The sender is faulty.

 

[fireship1]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

Hello, Not on a GM! What he has must be a General Motors van from what was previously posted here. The senders and gages work in REVERSE on them. Grounding makes the gage read empty. Open circuts make the gage read full. Just my 0.2 cents worth! Good luck!

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

That's correct fireship. The sender in there is a 0-90 ohm, not the 240-33 that everyone is normally accustomed to.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

I't figures GM would come up with something<br />that works backwards

 

[ndemge]

Re: Fuel Gauge Troubleshooting... 71 Van

heyheyhey there nosleep... your pushing it! <br /><br />I don't bad mouth your mamma, you don't bad mouth my chevy.