- Location
- NJ, U.S.A.
Having some fuel gauge issues with my '92, would like to get some suggestions:
A number of years back I had to have the fuel tank and pump/sender assembly replaced (top of tank and the sender itself were both rotted).
The fuel gauge read fine prior to the replacement, but it never read right with the new sender - it'd read half a tank but I'd only get 5 gallons in. The low fuel light would come on, and I could only get 10 gallons in. The original tank was 20 gallons, and I'm pretty sure I recall putting nearly that in after leaving the shop and going to the nearest gas station (the shop threw a gallon in so I could get it to a station, as the fuel in the old tank looked more like a milkshake than gasoline and couldn't be saved).
Since it was reading lower than what I perceived to be actual (rather than higher), I decided to live with it rather than drain the tank and mess with it. I rarely let it go below a half tank (actual) anyway, so between the "early warning" from the gauge and having a good feel for my MPG/range, I didn't feel all that concerned about it.
A couple years ago I swapped gauge clusters because of a failed trip odometer. The gauge in the replacement cluster read the sender the same way as the original, up until recently...
Last month I noticed the fuel gauge seemed to be stuck at 3/4, as it didn't come back up after I topped up at the start of a long run (though it did rise maybe half a needle's width after filling up and would wiggle a little bit going up/down hills). It seemed to be working a couple weeks before when I was out for a weekend of trail runs, though.
I have done Cruiser54's Fuel Pump Ground upgrade already as a first step. First key-on after doing that, the gauge climbed up to just off full. It should probably be a little under 3/4, though, since I the last time I drove it I topped it off and drove it about 110 miles, nearly all highway.
I'd appreciate some ideas at this point - should I bother rigging a variable resistor and testing from the body connector back up to the gauge itself, or focus on the sender assembly instead? Has anyone seen/heard of the gauge itself failing (I should note that the tach in the cluster I have in the truck now failed shortly after installing - it would read inaccurately or drop out altogether. I replaced the tach with the one from my original cluster, and that one works fine).
Rob
A number of years back I had to have the fuel tank and pump/sender assembly replaced (top of tank and the sender itself were both rotted).
The fuel gauge read fine prior to the replacement, but it never read right with the new sender - it'd read half a tank but I'd only get 5 gallons in. The low fuel light would come on, and I could only get 10 gallons in. The original tank was 20 gallons, and I'm pretty sure I recall putting nearly that in after leaving the shop and going to the nearest gas station (the shop threw a gallon in so I could get it to a station, as the fuel in the old tank looked more like a milkshake than gasoline and couldn't be saved).
Since it was reading lower than what I perceived to be actual (rather than higher), I decided to live with it rather than drain the tank and mess with it. I rarely let it go below a half tank (actual) anyway, so between the "early warning" from the gauge and having a good feel for my MPG/range, I didn't feel all that concerned about it.
A couple years ago I swapped gauge clusters because of a failed trip odometer. The gauge in the replacement cluster read the sender the same way as the original, up until recently...
Last month I noticed the fuel gauge seemed to be stuck at 3/4, as it didn't come back up after I topped up at the start of a long run (though it did rise maybe half a needle's width after filling up and would wiggle a little bit going up/down hills). It seemed to be working a couple weeks before when I was out for a weekend of trail runs, though.
I have done Cruiser54's Fuel Pump Ground upgrade already as a first step. First key-on after doing that, the gauge climbed up to just off full. It should probably be a little under 3/4, though, since I the last time I drove it I topped it off and drove it about 110 miles, nearly all highway.
I'd appreciate some ideas at this point - should I bother rigging a variable resistor and testing from the body connector back up to the gauge itself, or focus on the sender assembly instead? Has anyone seen/heard of the gauge itself failing (I should note that the tach in the cluster I have in the truck now failed shortly after installing - it would read inaccurately or drop out altogether. I replaced the tach with the one from my original cluster, and that one works fine).
Rob