The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay another fuel gauge ?

my shows empty at all times, I did replace the sending unit awhile back, did not help, is there a way that I can check to see if any current is going to the sending unit without me having to get under the dash? I did also try to use a simple light bulb/ground but did not get the light to light up, I really wasn't sure if enough would show by this method anyway. this runtz that bolters have spoken about, is it attached to the fuel gauge/what does it look like? guess you can tell that I have no idea about what Iam doing, any help would be appreciated.....Fred

Test for continuity between the terminals to see if the tiny coil resistor is broken. You should see the needle twitch with as little a 1.5V, but never put more than 6V through it or you'll melt the resistor. Runtz-style voltage reducers go on the + terminal for 12V conversions to prevent this.

Dropping the gauge can also break the internal resistor. :rolleyes: I managed to repair mine by doing microsurgery with a soldering iron

The truck does have the 12 volt conversion, I have own the truck for about 6yrs and the gauge had always been broken,everything else works great...thanks,,,,,Fred

Joker,
For the first 9 years I had my recent rig, my gauge rested at empty. Shortly after I did the 12v conversion I decided it (the gauge) needs to come alive, but learned that first I needed to find a resistor since the gauge cannot tolerate 12v. The infamous Runtz was highly recommended. It is a very small circuit board 1/2" x 1 3/4" with a bolted connector on one end (which you attach your original hot lead that was originally feeding the gauge), a hole on the other end which you connect to the hot post of your gauge, and finally a black wire which you ground.

Unless the gauge is really broken due to 12 volts feeding it, etc, and if it still reads E after you connect a Runtz, I would guess that it's simply a bad grounding issue. I spent a vast amount of time trouble shooting my situation, (removing sending unit, test, test ,test) and found that I had to go back to make sure that the entire circuitry between the sending unit and the gauge had solid connection.

Now it works.

My Runtz had no grounding wire.

and yours will work, I will probable find a loose wire so where, it probably had the right stuff,just never did get into going under the dash,oh, if I was only 40 yrs younger, no I take that back, would not want to go thru some of the yrs again, may be I might just HACK this baby up some more and put an after martket SW in it.later got to go eat one of those big juicy tex hamburgers...Fred

On the subject of proper ground, I discovered that even with the gauges bolted to the steel dash plate I would see the gauges and dash lights work with random intermittence. I ended up running a dedicated ground from one gauge cluster to the other, then to the firewall; that finally chased off the gremlins and got everything working at the same time.

Speaking of the Fuel Gauge, my gauge drops every time the turn signal goes on or the headlights come on. Afterwards it goes back to its normal position, but I was wondering if anybody has had this problem?
I just stuck in a new Alternator and voltage regulator to try and correct the problem.

Fred, you might want to tip your seat up and check the ground(s) for the sending unit at the tank. I seem to remember seeing somewhere a fella had a similar problem caused by a poor ground at the tank. This was due to the insulating pads under the tank, paint under ground connections, etc. You might wish to try running a ground wire directly from the sender to a clean chassis ground. Just my $.02.

Regards,
Wannabe

P.S. If you're really serious about the Stewart Warner gas gauge (and feel like spending some more dough on Redryder) I think they make a replacement set designed for the AD's-5" diameter speedo and combo gauge with oil/temp/volts(12V) and fuel, all dressed up in that sweet black face, white numbers with chrome ring classic style. Just another $.02...at this rate, I'm goin' broke!