Fuel guage short?

Hi All,

My fuel guage is stuck on Full when the engine is on, and Empty when I turn the engine off.

Any ideas where to start?

Thanks,

Michael

Check all wiring connections, next pull the sending unit out to make sure it is working properly.

Pull the wire from the sending unit on top of the tank and try the same thing.

The gauge needle shouldn't move at all. If it does, the short is in the wire or MAYBE the gauge.

Touch the wire to one of the screws holding the sender to the tank, the needle should move to full on, ONLY when the wire is grounded to the tank.

Plug the wire spade back in and tap the top of the sender a few times with a rubber hammer or wooded rod.

Turn the key to "on" again, what happens?

It may be a stuck sender, a shorted sender, of just a wire that is somehow grounded out.

The gauges are dead simple and the senders are just the float-style from before the Romans withdrew from Britannia,

Easy Peasy, Simple Pimple.

Thanks for the tips, I'm checking it out this weekend, and will respond when I find the fix.

Michael

Seems to be fixed. I hate it when something fixes its self. The gauge was sharply going from empty to full as soon as the key was turned on. Now I turn the key on and the gauge reads properly. Hmmm...

Thanks for the help - Michael

Michael,the same thing happened to me a few years ago. I did pull the enire fuel sending unit out of the tank, but that only confirmed it was working perfectly. Seems like I could only conclude it was a bad ground, or something like that. Fixing something is supposed to be a learning experience for the future, otherwise it's just a wasted day.
The most frequent thing I seem to "learn" is that I ain't never gunna do that particular thing again!

I had the same thing happen to my Spyder gas gauge. It and the sender came in the Phase III Spyder package I bought from Thunder Ranch. When I first connected it, it would read full right (past 4/4 on the gauge)as soon as the ignition was switched on, so I checked the sender first by substituting the sender from my Speedster and the gauge worked, but in reverse. It read 4/4 (or full) when the float was fully down and R or empty when the float was fully up. Easily solved by bending the float arm 180 degrees.
So back to the Spyder: one of the SpyderClub threads on this subject suggested using a 47 ohm resistor in place of the float/sender, which I did and got the expected 2/4, or half tank, reading. Then I removed the resistor and hooked-up the sender/float again and IT WORKED!
I know there's no magic dust that I applied and I probably had a bad ground or other connection, but I diligently checked all the fuel gauge and sender wiring for continuity and all appeared AOK. I won't complain as long as the gauge continues to work, but it sure is a mystery.
Jim
ProSpyder

James is right, you have to get just the right bend on the sending unit arm.