Fuel Gauge Issue

[Omni]

Good Afternoon All
After a long winters nap, the 'Party Barge' (65 Newport) is being readied for spring. the motor was rebuilt, new valve seals, block cleaned inside and out.
I re-installed the motor and it fired right up after a 1/4 rank on the starter. Timing set, carb tweaked, valve covers tightened, all is good. All gauges (add-on) read within spec, alternator gauge works, but the fuel gauge doesn't want to play (it worked when parked last fall - full tank) . I dis-connected the sender at the tank, grounded the terminal. Turned the ignition on still nothing. I was hoping that the gauge would move to full. Removed my grounding wire, left the gauge wire dis-connected and used my test light. I got a pulsing light with the ignition on.
I don't think I have a wiring or voltage limiter issue as I have power, so the only culprit left is the sender itself.
Am I missing something, or am I on the right track?
Thanks to all who respond.
Omni

 

[Davea Lux]

Good Afternoon All
After a long winters nap, the 'Party Barge' (65 Newport) is being readied for spring. the motor was rebuilt, new valve seals, block cleaned inside and out.
I re-installed the motor and it fired right up after a 1/4 rank on the starter. Timing set, carb tweaked, valve covers tightened, all is good. All gauges (add-on) read within spec, alternator gauge works, but the fuel gauge doesn't want to play (it worked when parked last fall - full tank) . I dis-connected the sender at the tank, grounded the terminal. Turned the ignition on still nothing. I was hoping that the gauge would move to full. Removed my grounding wire, left the gauge wire dis-connected and used my test light. I got a pulsing light with the ignition on.
I don't think I have a wiring or voltage limiter issue as I have power, so the only culprit left is the sender itself.
Am I missing something, or am I on the right track?
Thanks to all who respond.
Omni

Assuming you have tested the tank ground with a set of alligator clips, the next likely senario is that ethanol blended fuels eat up the lead seams on the sending unit float. My guess is if you put the car away for the winter with no fuel stabilizer in the tank, that is probably what happened. I would pull the tank unit out and check the float to see if it is fuel logged. If so you can probably just replace the float. They are available thru several sources on line as this is a common failure with today's crap gas. If you decide to replace the tank unit be sure to save your existing lock ring as the replacement ones are the finest chinesium and are a POS as are the chinesium sending units. When removing the tank unit, use plastic or brass tools on the lock ring to avoid sparks as a small spark is enough to blow the tank up and you a with it.

Dave

 

[1970FuryConv]

Good Afternoon All
full tank) . I dis-connected the sender at the tank, grounded the terminal. Turned the ignition on still nothing. I was hoping that the gauge would move to full. Removed my grounding wire, left the gauge wire dis-connected and used my test light. I got a pulsing light with the ignition on.
I don't think I have a wiring or voltage limiter issue as I have power, so the only culprit left is the sender itself.
Am I missing something, or am I on the right track?
Thanks to all who respond.
Omni

I'm not sure what you mean by "grounded the terminal." The sending wire is a ground wire, so you should have grounded the sending wire and the needle on the gauge should have gone to full, indicating that the gauge is OK.
If the gauge is OK:
Then either
*the sending unit has no ground
*the float has a hole in it
*the sending unit needs a rebuild
One way to give the sending unit ground is to attach a wire like hose clamp to pipe, run it thru the trunk grommet for the sending wire, and ground the wire somewhere in the trunk.
72 Fury, tank has more vent hoses