fuel gauge not working 66 300

[scottveazie]

It was working now it isn't. Currently is just shows empty no matter what, it did briefly work when I got the car. Any ideas?

 

[70NPORT]

If there are no grounding issues (causing the needle in the gauge to bottom out), ya might need a new fuel level sending unit, esp. if its the original piece still in your fuel tank. They can deteriorate over the years.

 

[scottveazie]

I tried grounding the sender to the frame and it changed nothing. Is there a way to check the gauge?

 

[detmatt]

I agree, I think your problem lies in the sender itself, inside the tank. They are available in the aftermarket and aren't expensive. There quality isn't as good as the originals though. I just bought one for my Imperial but I will have the original rebuilt for when the repopped one fails.

 

[D Cluley]

1. Pull the blue wire off the stud on the sending unit.
2. Connect that blue wire to a good ground.
3. Turn on the ignition for a few seconds.

If the problem is with the sending unit, then the fuel gauge should head quickly for full. You don't want to leave it turned on at that point or it can burn out the gauge without the resistance of the sending unit in the circuit.

 

[scottveazie]

I tried connecting the sending wire to ground, nothing happened. I do remember a week ago a burning smell from the dash when driving, maybe the fuel gauge committed suicide? So I think I'll get a different gauge (if I can find one) and a new sending unit too. The burning smell seemed to coincide with when I was under the dash troubleshooting something else.

 

[70NPORT]

Burning smell = bad. That's the last place you want to smell something burning. IF it were me, I'd park it and chase down the what and why before driving around again.

 

[scottveazie]

Well, to clarify, the smell was a one time deal. My thought is that whatever happened took the gauge out, and that was it.

 

[70NPORT]

Well, to clarify, the smell was a one time deal. My thought is that whatever happened took the gauge out, and that was it.

I would get a multimeter and check the wiring behind the dashboard, specifically the circuit the fuel gage was on. If you haven't already get an FSM for you particular year & model, there are physical as well as schematic wiring diagrams within you might find very helpful. The fuel gauge burning up is a symptom of something else going on up under there. If you have not heard of the "MAD conversion"-you may want to check that out also....just google it....from what I understand all the load for the car goes through the fuel gauge. I've read about horror stories concerning that. Hope this is helpful.

 

[scottveazie]

I couldn't find anything under MAD conversion. I'm probably not looking up the right thing. I posted a want ad for the gauge itself, will probably just replace both parts.