Fuel sending unit/gauge woes

[fordman]

the aux tank fuel gauge switch is a unplugable unit from the main wiring harness. here is a picture of how it plugs into the wiring harness. http://www.fordification.com/tech/wirin ... x-fuel.jpg basically the orange wire from the sending unit goes up and plugs into the instrument cluster. after it goes through the tape in the wiring harness. the power from the instrument cluster voltage regulator makes the gauge give readings of how much fuel is in the tank.

[Sweetblu]

So if I can make sure my gauge works when grounded, all I need to do is simply run a wire from the ground side of the gauge back to my sending unit??

[forrestbump]

Yup, and be sure your sending unit in the tank works too or you'll drive your self nuts...

Two wires out of tank sending unit: one to ground and one to gauge switch on dash. O.E.M. sending units have these two electrical provisions.

[fordman]

well its not the ground side. it woul dbe the sensor side. i guess yo ucould call it. but yes right to the sender from the gauge woul dwork. there shoul dbe a orange wire under the dahs there that is already hooked or suppose to be hooked to the gauge.

[Sweetblu]

Thanks for all the help guys! I ran a wire from the right side terminal to the input on the fuel sending unit and..... It works!


Moves slowly but it works. Not sure if the slowness is normal or not, but happy it works.


Under the dash/behind the Inst. cluster I found the orange wire plugged into some kind of a Y only with 3 in 1 out. One of the three in looks to be going down by the wiper switch.... (weird) One goes over to where the cluster connector is but has been cut off and taped (black wire) and then one disappears somewhere else. Not sure where that is all going, but I bypassed the whole mess!


THANKS AGAIN fellow Ford fans!!!! (I'll be back for more, and in fact am about to post a new question about my dash lights.)

[fordman]

the 3 out and 1 in plug is just a plug for power to the wipers radio and other accessories. i forget which ones right now. oh the third one is usually ran to the door light switches so the dome light will come on when the door opens.

[Ranger72]

I just wanted to say thanks!

I followed the directions in the troubleshooting section of this page:

http://www.fordification.com/tech/fuel- ... -units.htm

I have dual tanks, and neither was reading. So I took the plug off the back of the switch and jabbed a wire into a couple of it's holes. I was able to get the needle to jump that way, confirming that the problem was in the switch itself. After pulling it apart and cleaning it, the gauge works great!

I never would've thought to check the switch.