fuel gauge mystery

[davidmason]

Hi fellow members, i,ve just completed a full restoration on my 64 pickup and am now trialing it ready for a trip to the dordogne in July where it will then live! All seems fine and i'm really pleased but I have a problem with the fuel gauge reading full all the time. I have disconnected the wire to the fuel sender and it shows zero but as soon as it is reconnected it climbs to full(there's only 2 gallons in the tank). any suggestions? Are there any other members out there in the Dordogne region (near Sarlat) i'd love to hear from you.
thanks for any help. Dave Mason

[Arfron]

Have you tried checking that the tank has a good earth ? The earth on the tank is via the self-tapping screws holding the tank in place !!
Worth checking out ?? Regards Arfron

[simmitc]

Sounds like (a) a short on the wire to the sender; or (b) a faulty sender. The standard test for the gauge is to remove the wire from the sender and put it to earth. The gauge should then read full. You're getting the same effect when you connect the wire. Are you making/breaking the connection at the gauge end or the sender end? Try the latter, if no reading then wire is OK but sender broken. It might be worth taking the sender out and checking that the arm pivots freely - it's not unknown for them to jam in one position. Good luck.

[davidmason]

THANKS FOLKS , I HAVE NOW FITTED A SEPERATE GOOD EARTH FROM A FIXING SCREW ON THE SENDER DIRECT TO THE CHASSIS AND NO IMPROVEMENT , I GUESS IT MEANS A NEW SENDER BUT I WILL CHECK FIRST TO MAKE SURE THE OLD UNIT IS NOT JUST SIMPLY STUCK UP . THE TANK WAS NOT FITTED TO THE CAR WHEN I FIRST OBTAINED IT SO I SUPPOSE IT COULD HAVE HAD A ROUGH TIME BEING KICKED AROUND SOMEONES GARAGE . REGARDS DAVE

[davidmason]

THANKS TO ALL . I'VE NOW CHECKED THE SENDER AND IT IS FAULTY . HAS ANYONE GOT A DECENT REPLACEMENT I CAN BUY! ITS THE LATER TYPE WITH A SPADE CONNECTOR.
CHEERS DAVE

OK I'VE FOUND ONE ALL OK NOW
THANKS AGAIN