fuel guage vs. sending relay
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 31,301
Likes: 4,389
From: Westminster Maryland
Hi otr,
I see this is your first post, so WELCOME!!!
Mel is right that knowing what year your car is will help people give you some correct advice.
There are a couple tests you can do to determine if the problem is the sending unit in the tank, the gauge, or a grounding problem.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
I see this is your first post, so WELCOME!!!
Mel is right that knowing what year your car is will help people give you some correct advice.
There are a couple tests you can do to determine if the problem is the sending unit in the tank, the gauge, or a grounding problem.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,192
Likes: 27
From: Boca Raton Florida
OK, So welcome to the forum. There is no relay in the fuel gauge system. There is a Sending unit in the tank which is a float and a variable resistor. There is a gauge in the dash which has power applied to one side and the sender unit to the other side. The gauge works by the float mechanism controlling the resistance in the ground side of the gauge. First and easiest checks: Do yuo have and know how to use a Volt/Ohm meter?
You can ground the sender wire at the sender, that should drive the gauge all the way one way or the other, it will not hurt anything. If the gauge does not move, there is a problem between the sender wire at the sender and the gauge in the dash. If the gauge does move, disconnect the sender wire from the sender and measure the resistance between the senter terminal and the ground wire, it should be somewhere between 0 to 90 ohms. Usually what happens is the wire in the sender unit or the wiper arm on the sender wears out.
You can ground the sender wire at the sender, that should drive the gauge all the way one way or the other, it will not hurt anything. If the gauge does not move, there is a problem between the sender wire at the sender and the gauge in the dash. If the gauge does move, disconnect the sender wire from the sender and measure the resistance between the senter terminal and the ground wire, it should be somewhere between 0 to 90 ohms. Usually what happens is the wire in the sender unit or the wiper arm on the sender wears out.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,993
Likes: 9
From: Gig Harbor WA
Last edited by MakoShark72; Oct 25, 2011 at 04:15 PM. Reason: wrong link
