73 Dart is the car

The temp gauge is dead. Reads nothing. The fuel gauge is always low.

I replaced the sending unit for the temp gauge. Got nothing. On the fuel sender the ground strap at the tank was missing. I replaced it and made sure I was getting a good ground. Nothing has changed, the gauge still reads 3/4 full when the tank is 100% full.

I read a tech article on this site about early a bodys having no reading on either gauge. Is this applicable to late a's?

What is the best "next step" for me in the troubleshooting process? I have to take the inst. cluster out to replace the speedo head anyhow.

Thanks!

CE

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-76 Cordoba, 360 4bbl
-68 Valiant, 273 2bbl
-67 Dart /6 4bbl, Leaning Tower of Power!!!

An easy test for the fuel gauge is to disconnect the wire from the sender and see if the gauge goes to EMPTY, then ground the wire to the body/frame and check that the gauge goes to FULL.

If all's well, it would tell you that you that the gauge is okay and that the problem is in the sender or it’s ground.

Danny

Well I pulled the from the tank sending unit and got nothing at the gauge. Then I grounded the wire and got a full tank reading.

So that should mean that my gas problem is in the sending unit. Right? That is actually good, 'cause I have an extra sending unit. So I'll swap that out and see what happens.

As for the temp gauge. Do the actual gauges go bad? or is it more the regulator that causes most of the problems?

Anyone have any pointers

Thank you!

CE

_________________
-76 Cordoba, 360 4bbl
-68 Valiant, 273 2bbl
-67 Dart /6 4bbl, Leaning Tower of Power!!!

My temp gauge never worked, so I replaced it with another one, and still nothing. My dash illumination lights are dead too, even with a new light switch. I am assuming its bad wireing, so I just put in an aftermarket temp gauge, and am planning on a full set of after gauges. Problem solved.

_________________

'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

I installed a new fuel sender, doesn't work. I also pulled the connector wire off of it, grounded it, nothing, it's just peged on empty. I also installed a new voltage limiter on the back of the gauge cluster, nothing.

What more can I test? Or are my fuel/temp gauges 100% dead? I would really like to find out, I want to stick with stock gauges.

Danny that is all great info. Thank you very much.

unfortunately I won't get a chance to try it out this weekend. But hopefully next weekend.

I'll update the post then.

Thanks!

CE

_________________
-76 Cordoba, 360 4bbl
-68 Valiant, 273 2bbl
-67 Dart /6 4bbl, Leaning Tower of Power!!!

I don't know if this article will help, but it discusses getting rid of the voltage limiter all together and using a solid state chip. Interesting reading either way.


http://allpar.com/history/mopar/electrical2.html

CE

_________________
-76 Cordoba, 360 4bbl
-68 Valiant, 273 2bbl
-67 Dart /6 4bbl, Leaning Tower of Power!!!

make sure your sending unit is grounded when your testing it, i've made that mistake before, didn't realize that's what the little strap was for going from the unit to the metal fuel line

_________________
64 barracuda
64 valiant convertable
65 valiant sedan
65 signet
74 vw beetle convertable
79 E-250 4WD van
94 dodge dakota

Thanks for that website, should be some good reading.
As for my problems, my sending unit is gone, as when you ground the pin and turn on the ignition it goes to full(gauge is good, unit is gone) Also there is a connector on driver's side kick panel that you could ground see if unit goes to full, if does, then gauge, if not then wire from sending unit to that connector.
But, now my temp. gauge quit working, so better do some reading on that.

I hope i am doing this correctly as my first post.
thanks.

_________________
1973 Dodge Dart Custom

***Update***

Fuel Gauge Problem:

-The gauge was showing 3/4 full when tank was completly full
-When the lead at the tank was grounded the gauge went to Full. When the circuit was open, the gauge went to empty.

So I pulled a sending unit out of a spare tank I have to test with. I made up leads that went from the spare sender to the car's fuel circuit wiring.

I turned the ignition on and held the float at various levels (yes i had a good ground) and watched the resulting movement on the fuel gauge.

The readings were exactly the same as the sending unit that is already in the car. Empty shows up on the gauge as Empty. Full on the sending unit shows up as 3/4 full on the gauge.

Interesting............... What are the chances that both sending units would show 3/4 full when sitting in the Full position? not likely I think.

Since the temp gauge is just DEAD I wonder if I should be looking at the regulator affecting both gauges, or just the fuel gauge itself. Guess when I have the dash apart I'll have to play around with it all.

Oh boy! Fun!

Any thoughts?

Thank,

CE

_________________
-76 Cordoba, 360 4bbl
-68 Valiant, 273 2bbl
-67 Dart /6 4bbl, Leaning Tower of Power!!!

By the way, if you install a new temperature sending unit, do not use any sealant or teflon tape on the threads. It also must be grounded to the block for a good connection.

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Well, temp. gauge is working, new sensor, plus new fuse in the fuse block. If this fuse is gone, you will not get an oil light when starting the car, another way of knowing it is a fuse.

_________________
1973 Dodge Dart Custom

Have you tried running a jumper from the gauge to the sender (bypassing the car's wiring?).

A weak ground-out in the 'hot' wire to the sender could be sapping power. Not enough to blow a fuse, just enough to misplace a little voltage. (checking voltage difference at gauge and sender, or checking resistance of car wiring between gauge and sender may confirm same.)