The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Gas Gauge to 12volt conversion

i would like to get a gas gauge to operate on my 53 chevy pickup. when i first got the truck it was 6 volts. i dont think the gauge work correctly then. anyway i have installed a v8 and changed to 12 volt system. has anyone have a good idea on which way to go. can i use the exsting sending unit, and use a after the market under the dash gauge to work. do i need to start from scratch. i plan day to put a nice set of gauges in but it will be down the road. im diabled and dont need to give out of gas again. money be tight so its hard to keep it full.thanks for any suggestions, i did look in the archvies but did not really see anything.

The sending unit needs to be the correct resistance for the gauge that it's connected to. You may be able to use the existing sending unit if it's functioning properly. Find out what its nominal resistance is, and then look for a gauge that uses a sending unit with the same resistance. Most aftermarket gauges will specify the resistance, in ohms, of the proper sending unit.

Since money is tight, perhaps what you should consider is finding a working combination. So long as the gauge is 12 volts and will fit in the dash, and the sending unit has enough travel to at least somewhat accurately tell you when the tank is empty (because that's all that really matters, right?), you should be able to use almost any sending unit/gauge combination that meets those requirements.

do i need to remove the sending unit to get the resistance range?

unless you can reach in the tank to move the float
the only way to insure the sender is any good is to remove it and use an ohm meter on it while moving the float arm stop to stop - if it's original it'll be 30 ohm +/- and you won't find an aftermarket gauge to work with that, they use higher values, 90 up, but you can get different senders .... if the gas gauge doesn't work, note the mileage when you fill up [the odometer does work?] and fill every 150 miles, not likely you'll run out, but carry a gas can the first run thru

Bill

thats another problem, no speedometer yet

You can buy a resister to run the current gauge/float from several of the aftermarket suppliers or with luck you can find it radio shack. We just did this on my '54 4100 when changing to 12 volts from 6.

Guys, I may be WAY off base here and the info is stashed some where in my shop. Probably over a year ago I ask some questions about tearing my guages apart and ask some questions. "Someone' told me how to test it with my 12 volt battery in my Silverado ( I did an it tested OK) and also someone told me I did not have to change anything or put a reducer on my guage. That, if it did in fact work, it would still work and be OOOK when I change the 52 Panel to 12 volts.

Maybe I shouldn't post or open up a can of worms here until I dig out the printouts....... but it'll get your minds to spinning.

I guess it depends on whether you have a spare gauge with which to test your theory.....

today i went and got the gauges out of a 1978 chevy truck that i got the v8 from. anyway i took the speedometer gauge and modified it to fit the 53 gauge dial face, looks really good, well i was hoping that i could put the gas gauge in the other gauge on the right side with the gas gauge. it will look good, the question is it has 3 termimals on the back of it and cant tell which on is what. one should be ground, one should be 12 volts and the other should be attached to the sending unit. just wondering if anyone knew when looking at the rear of the qauge which terminals is which. i ordered a matching generic sending unit today. i did get a under the dash gauge just encase it dont work. thanks for any help. the gas gauge plugs into the old 78 chevy gauge cluster.

well it test benched it with the sending unit today and got it calibrated and instlled. working on the dash gauges now . thanks for all of da help