fuel gauge

[hydrick]

i've read and searched and found useful info.
i'm down now to this

whether new sending unit or old one, (even after replacing with new wiring for sender)
i still get a pegged to full reading.

this happened on a busy boating day, and prior to pegging the gauge was doing some wild bouncing.

i've ran wires straight from battery(bypassing console wiring) to test as well
and still get the full reading.

advice please

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

btw,

 

[Silvertip]

Re: fuel gauge

Chances are the float arm has hung up.

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

i thought so initially too.

this problem is with sening unit hooked up or unhooked and sitting in my lap with both new or old sender wired directly to back of gauge.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: fuel gauge

Are you sure the sending wire is not touching a ground somewhere?

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

i rewired to be sure.,i did splice into existing wires(the original sender was spliced in with after market connectors.)maybe been replaced prior to my ownership)the sending wire is new and runs trough a couple factory harness connectors then to gauge.
the ground however hooks into a splice with all other grounds that comes through hull from battery.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: fuel gauge

Run a temporary wire from the sender to the S terminal on the gauge.Then another one from the G terminal to the Neg. side of the battery and see what happens..

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

i'll give that a shot in about an hour.

i miss my old cruise craft with the manual float,lol

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

tried it with the new gauge in hand hit the switch and it pegged to full.
moved the float(as it was hand held)and though pegged at full the hand visably moved even farther above full and back to full when float hand lowered.
i then hooked the existing(current fuel gage in same manner, and got a brief blip of movement(keep in mind i'm testing this while in water)then nothing.......

i'm guessiong faulty gauge.....?
but a guess is all it will be,lol

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

so the search starts for a fuel gauge.

 

[jfkkesler]

Re: fuel gauge

I'm assuming you have already made sure you are connecting the correct wires? I have seen gauges do this when the ground and positive lead are reversed.

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

I'm assuming you have already made sure you are connecting the correct wires? I have seen gauges do this when the ground and positive lead are reversed.

thanks for the question.
yes i checked it.

this gauge pegs whether sending unit is hooked up or unhooked with the ignition on.

i'm figuring since there's no external voltage limiter that it must be internal in gauge, and that it's causing the malfunction.

 

[jfkkesler]

Re: fuel gauge

I'll go with you and say new gauge time! It does, however, still sound like a grounding issue. My fuel gauge will stay at 0 if the sender is disconnected with the power on. My gauge only works when connected to the sender. Are you saying yours will peg with the sender disconnected and the key turned to "on"? That is very weird indeed. Have you checked the main ground on the panel?

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

yes, it pegs whether hooked to sender or not.

i bypassed ground from dash and grounded from battery and get the same pegged to full.

 

[Arabian180]

Re: fuel gauge

I'm betting the indicator has slipped in the shaft when it pegged the first few times. I have taken fuel gauges apart and moved the pointer back and gotten them working again. It's a tedious job prying the bezel off without making it too ugly to reuse but sometimes you get lucky.

Buy a new one and tinker with the old one. Have some fun.

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

funny you mentioned that.i was actually watching this gauge as we went through turbulent wake and watched it flip wildly beyond full and to the bottom past full.

 

[hydrick]

Re: fuel gauge

fuel gauge men.

the dearndest problem i recall tracking in years.
i thank this sight and those threads that had the same problem before
and those of you who read and responded.
thanks to all.