The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay gas gauge malfunction

any reason why my gas gauge would stop working. after switching over to 12 volt. i then replaced the gas tank with a new one. the sending unit is the old one. i have the 12 to 6 volt reducer on the gauge. it was working the other day. after replacing the tank I put some gas back in it and it was reading almost empty cause i only had in about 4 gals. now it is reading full when it doesn't have much in it. turn the key off and it goes down to empty. key on and it reads full.

mmmm, could there be a grounding issue here?

Bad sending unit ground?

i just got done grinding the area free of paint and redid the grounds at the tank. i also made sure the ground on the back of the gauge that comes from the resister went to a good ground. i noticed when i removed the ground on top of the tank it would go all the way past the F and when i put it back on it would move down towards the F. i put more gas in so will see what happens. thought maybe the float might have gotten stuck. not sure

Take the wire from the gauge to the sender on the tank loose and ground it. The gauge should go the empty.

If it does go to empty, the circuit up to the sender (voltage reducer, gauge and wiring) is OK.

If it doesn't go to empty, then the problem is in the voltage reducer, the gauge or the wiring.


Be sure to heed this warning tag when working on the back of the fuel gauge:

Fuel Gauge Warning Tag

If your tag is missing, the one in the picture is on the stud behind the FULL side of the gauge.

The voltage reducer should be on the stud behind the EMPTY side.