bopiela

Cliffy,

it read FUEL000 last time I ran this. Will run it again to see if that's changed. But that tells me there is a short. I checked under the dash but am a little lost on how to trace a wire from the dash to the fuel tank... I don't know where it runs, ha ha.

Thanks for the continued help...

cliffyk

It could also be a bad fuel level sensor, "waterlogged" float, or wiring in/near the tank. Using the resistors as indicated will let you know which--if the gauge reads full with the 160Ω resistor and empty with the 15Ω resistor then the wiring between the connector and the instrument cluster is OK...

bopiela

Oh, OK. Well I will see what happens then. Thanks Cliff.

cliffyk

By doing that you'll isolate the issue as being either fore or aft of the connector...

bopiela

Do i just attach the resistor to the one wire? I've never used these before. I tried googling it, but get different answers all the time...

Thanks!

cliffyk

They would be connected across the connector pins as shown below, but instead of the Ford test box:

bopiela

Thanks Cliff. Will post when I resolve or figure out where problem is.

bopiela

Cliff,

Just a heads up question in case. If I put the resistors on and the gauge works (full and empty at the specified ranges) then the problem would be the float because it is sending the proper resistance? If the gauge still doesn't work, I have to trace the wire and find the short?

Thanks again.

cliffyk

Yup..

If with the resistors the gauge operates as it should then everything from the connector forward is OK, the problem is from the connector back toward the tank. Check for pinched/frayed/broken wires etc, or the sending unit is bad, float stuck/"waterlogged"/etc...

bopiela

Well I assuming I did the test right, I found out that I have a wiring issue somewhere.... So now I don't know if I'll just live with it, or try tracing that wire... Since I had the entire interior out, it is very possible I clipped it/pinched somewhere along the line last winter and it just took some driving to bounce it around and render it useless..... Guess I'll check the easy areas first and see if anything comes up....