Gas Gauge
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Junior User
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 53
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Gas Gauge
Well, Last night i was able to find out how much gas i had. I shook the truck around , and my gas gauge went from E to about 3 quarter tank, and yeah i do have about that much based on when i filled my tank. Now , the ball im guessing floated up somehow in the gas. Whats going on here? is it broken , b/c it worked for about 5 mins , and then dropped back to E again.
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 57,004
Likes: 2,747
From: Virginia
Could be a bad ground wire to the sending unit, though 99% of the time the sending unit inside the tank has something wrong with it. Go into the sending unit business for 80-up Ford pickups, and you would make a lot of money.
Senior User
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 123
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From: Near KC Missouri
Wish I could be more help but I can't even seem to get the gas gauge in the truck Im working on to work correctly myself.
I know the sending units are a PITA and that is probably the problem in your case.
Mine however has something to do with electrical.
MmMmmm Electrical .... My favorite topic.
I know the sending units are a PITA and that is probably the problem in your case.
Mine however has something to do with electrical.
MmMmmm Electrical .... My favorite topic.
Moderator
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 22,415
Likes: 92
From: Denver Metro Area, CO
Being a cheap SOB, I was intending on getting sending units from the
junkyards. Waste of time (unless you come across one that's obviously
been recently replaced). The things operate like mechanical rheostats -
there's a button-like contact that glides across a very fine fine wire that's
wrapped around a piece of material. That wire eventually wears through
and breaks; I remember seeing one that had unwound so much that trying
to imagine it in operation reminded me of a fern (plant) in an aquarium. I
guess I was reminded of a fish tank I used to have. This explains the
sudden & wild fluctuations the dash gauge shows.
Anyhow, don't waste your time trying to get one (sending unit) from a
junkyard; unless it's been recently replaced, it's prolly in just as bad of
shape (if not worse) than what you've already got.
-chris
colorado, usa
junkyards. Waste of time (unless you come across one that's obviously
been recently replaced). The things operate like mechanical rheostats -
there's a button-like contact that glides across a very fine fine wire that's
wrapped around a piece of material. That wire eventually wears through
and breaks; I remember seeing one that had unwound so much that trying
to imagine it in operation reminded me of a fern (plant) in an aquarium. I
guess I was reminded of a fish tank I used to have. This explains the
sudden & wild fluctuations the dash gauge shows.
Anyhow, don't waste your time trying to get one (sending unit) from a
junkyard; unless it's been recently replaced, it's prolly in just as bad of
shape (if not worse) than what you've already got.
-chris
colorado, usa
