Finally got the wiring harness all hooked up, got the ignition wired correctly (thanks Julie) and turned the key and vrooom!!!! It's alive!!! Smoked up the neighbors and the driveway just about the time that my wife pulled in!!!hahahaha! All the gauges are wired correctly. The only one that isn't registering is the gas gauge....i figure it isn't grounded well enough so, any suggestions on how to ground the sender? I currently have a wire from a screw that holds the sender on the tank to the frame right beside the tank.

 

Congratulations!
It's a good time to get the beast started,.all the more fun when the wife can share in the experience..

 

That should workfor a ground, cleaned all the rust and or paint off where it attaches to the frame? Does the sender match the gauge?

 

Hey that's great news!

Ground. Hmm that should be more than enough (if your cab body is grounded - aren't grounds a pain). Might check the wire running from the dash to the sender. You should have power at the stud on top of the sender! If not, the wire is broke, the gauge is broke, or the wire supplying power to the gauge is broke.

Stupid question: do you have any gas in the tank?

Make sure you have at least 5 gallons in it, turn on the ignition switch and check for 12 volts (or 6 volts as the case maybe) from the stud on the top of the sender to ground. If you do, for about 5 seconds, bridge that connection with a jumper wire so the power runs directly from teh stud to the ground and see if the gauge starts up.

Let me know!

 

An easy way to test the guage and wiring is to remove the wire from the sender and told it to a good ground with the ignition on. The guage should quickly go to the opposite end of the scale. If it does, then your problem is either a poor ground or the sender is bad.

 

Okay I checked the wiring and tried grounded the sender to everything I could think of. I even ran a wire to the negative battery terminal for the ground. Nothing....I did jump a wire from the post and the ground screw and the guage went all the way to the top like you said. Maybe a bad sender? Could the guage not be grounded properly? I have all the gauges grounded to the body

 

I had the same problem with my new gauges (dolphin) I hooked up last week, what I had to do was ground the gauge itself on the back along with the ground next to the tank for the sending unit.

 

Well I think i've tried everything...maybe the sender is bad...I got it and the gauge from midfifty. They did say last fall that they were having problems with them. I wonder if I got one from the old batch. About to give them a call. Thanks guys and Julie. If you all can think of any other trick I may try, before I send this one back I'd love to hear it.

 

I had the same problem with my gas tank sending unit. The problem turned out to be the sender was not put together correctly. I thought i followed the assembly instructions right but apperantly i didn't. I can't remember how it goes together but check and make sure it is put together right.

I also found out the tool box that is mounted above the tank was contacting thge top of the sender post and shorting it out. Fixed that and is now working good.

Terry

 

You have to make sure if you replace the sender, or even just the float, that you get one with the float groove (that the arm clips onto) that is in the center of the float, or it hangs up on the tank wall.

One last thing and I know this sounds stupid, but no matter how hard you try, you will never ever (if it's working correctly) get your gas gauge to come up if there's no gas in the tank. You laugh, but I walked around pissed off for two days once at wits end because the gauge didn't work and then it hit me, "the tank is empty stupid!"

I have calibrated these gauges on a few trucks (they are adjustable btw). You need at least 5 gallons in there and if it is that low, you need to have the engine on and generator turning at 1000 rpm before you will get a reading within 2 minutes.

 

I got plenty of gas...its about 3 inches from the top. I haven't had the engine running when testing it though. Maybe that will do the trick. I'll also triple check that I did put the sender together correctly. I read over the directions, but sometimes things make more sense or you catch something when you read it with fresh eyes instead of after work. I'll let you guys know. Thanks.

 

Okay I finally checked the sender with the Ohms meter and there is no change in the Ohms reading when the float arm is moved to a different position. Called midfifty. Those ladies are so great to deal with. They are sending me a replacement and I'm sending them back the dud. Thanks guys for helping me trouble shoot even though it turned out to be a bad sender.

 

Well I'm glad you found the trouble - hopefully the new sender will work for you.

Just a bit of clarification on the motor running and rpm. If the truck is off, and the gas is low - below 1/4 tank, it takes a long time for the gauge to come up and register because of the lower voltage-but it will come up.

Even with my alternator, if I'm driving around with the lights on and stop at a signal light, the gas gauge will drift a little toward empty if I have only a couple of gallons in it until I get the rpm up again - then it slips back up - about a needle width.

 

and it turned out toasted too.....ughhh. Called midfifty and as usual, they were awesome to deal with. I emailed them a photo of the sender and they emailed me right back and are replacing it with a new one free and clear! I hate that the sender was bad, but am so glad that they are standing by their work. You don't find too many companies that will "make it right". Midfifty is one of those that does make it right. Hope to have some pics up soon of the wiring complete.

 

So, is it working ok now?

I'm looking forward to the wiring pictures!