Fuel Gauge no worky...

[2001shrtbedcummins]

Yea my fuel gauge doesn't work...drove it up on ramps to change the oil...drove it down and it's stuck on E...what should I do?

[Begle1]

Well, it's either the sender, the gauge or the wiring.

The sender is a potentiometer connected to a float... I think that it has a high resistence when it is empty, so if it shorts it reads E. So if you bypass the sender with a piece of wire, then the gauge should read F, right?

So if that doesn't work, you know it isn't the sender... Don't know from there...

[2001shrtbedcummins]

okay thanks man...I'll write that down...down it's high...high it's low...so now what?

[charger 69]

Well, it's either the sender, the gauge or the wiring.

The sender is a potentiometer connected to a float... I think that it has a high resistence when it is empty, so if it shorts it reads E. So if you bypass the sender with a piece of wire, then the gauge should read F, right?

So if that doesn't work, you know it isn't the sender... Don't know from there...

If its the sender is there any fix or do you have to replace it? The gage works on the second tank but not the main tank.

[Begle1]

The sender is a potentiometer attached to a float; as the float goes up and down, it turns the potentiometer and changes resistance.

If the sender itself is bad, the float could either be broken off or the pot could be faulty. A new float could probably be made out of anything, but I wouldn't know where to find a potentiometer with the same ohm range. Sender couldn't be too much from a junkyard; don't know if the Diesel senders were common with the gas senders, though. If they weren't then it might be hard to find.

[2001shrtbedcummins]

well it works now...went over a big hump in an intersection at about 40. Went straight to E. Got to school shut it off...went in for a few minutes came back out and it was working.

[CAJUN 93]

you've got a loose connection somewhere. when and if it stops working again, start at the tank end and check connections (have an ohm meter handy, its very usefull in diaging this).

as for the ?? about fixing the sender, i have had luck on older cars of removing the sender and cleaning the brass contacts (you'll see them where the swing arm attaches to the main housing) with brake cleaner. it seems that they get coated with a varnish after years of use and loose some efficiency. from what i hear, a couple tanks of bio fuel will have the same effect as it has a high solvent quality to it, but i dont have it available to me down here in the swamp .

hope this helps
daryl

[2001shrtbedcummins]

The thing about it is, the last time it did it, it fixed itself. The last owner ripped a hole in the bed to "fix" this problem OH: so I can take the sender out without dropping it. I might take it out again and clean the sender. But I have run three-four tanks of at least B10 on tank of B15.