The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Gas gauge ground

Ok, I just got my third new gas gauge (12v, 54) and when installed it is stuck on full which i think suggests a ground issue.. I know the sender works and is grounded but I wonder if the metal strip on the back of the gauge with the bump in the middle is making contact with the housing which has a hole that aligns with the bump and therefore not grounding the gauge through the cluster housing to the dash. Does this seem logical? Have others had this problem? How do I fix it? How common is it just to get a bad gauge? The gauge came with several washers, regular and locking, and nuts. Should there be a washer on each post that contacts the housing, on the inside of the housing, touching the metal strip on the gauge?

lonniec has some good pictures
http://s149.photobucket.com/user/lonnieinorlando/library/54%20Chevy%203100/Gauges?sort=4&page=1

no washers on the inside, no paint either.

Also the use of a star lock washer bites thru the paint making
multiple point of contact.
dg

Put a voltmeter on it and don't reconnect your battery until everything reads correctly, otherwise you might fry something.

F post or post connected to sender/tank

E post or post connected to ignition

Post to post resistance reading 29 ohms

F post to ground or outside of housing
27 ohms

E post to ground or outside of housing
57 ohms

Check for burnt or broken wires. Central rivet if loose can cause problem with the ground. Also need connectivity from housing to dash

Thanks Dan, but one question; what central rivet?

I'm calling it a rivet as it holds the base of the insides together. When you look at the back of the cluster gauge when everything is together there's a hole between the two posts where this "rivet' sits in the middle. It should not touch any part of the housing, if it does and you reconnect the battery bad things happen. On mine that rivet is a little loose, so when I carefully tighten down the first nut on the posts I made sure it didn't move to mess up the ohm readings listed above.

The back of my gauge has a metal strip between the posts with a bump in the middle that aligns with the hole in the housing. There is nothing to come loose as it is all one piece. I assume it fits against the housing and provides ground for the gauge. I haven't seen anything saying it should not touch the housing so I'm still confused.

At least on mine ('54-55 1st) that bump that aligns with the hole was loose. The face of the gauge and arms with the wired coils are attached to a fibre type board thru what I'm calling a rivet. If you very slightly turn the face of the gauge while holding the fibre board that the posts attach to, it would loose connectivity and the gauge would sit a little off empty even if the tank was full. And one time when I put the cluster gauge back together while trying to figure it out, the bump or rivet was somehow touching the housing and burned out the wire coming from the ignition.

Part of the gauge, a metal strip on the back, has to connect to the cluster housing.