Is there any way to bench test a fuel gauge? I really would hate to replace a faulty gauge with another faulty gage.

Thanks-DART 68

Do any testing very carefully, do not, I repeat do NOT ever apply 12 volts or even 6 volts across the gauge terminals, you will fry it.

I have the luxury of test equipment and a power supply with adjustable voltage and current limiting and an understanding of electronics so I am able to do tests that the average person probably can not.

You can test the gauge for continuity with an ohm meter, this will not hurt the gauge. I do not know what resistance value you should read and I do not have any gauges handy to test at this time.

As for a functional test, you can try a 1.5 volt flashlight battery as your power source. Apply the voltage accross the gauge terminals and after a delay the needle should move up. The polarity on these mopar gauges does not matter since they are a thermal gauge, not magnetically operated. It's been several years since I used the above described test using a battery ( I was trying to figure out a way to test the gauges at a salvage yard).
This should get you started. Let us know the results.

Thanks for the info. Would you recommend one battery or two. It seems that two would put out three volts or does it just provide a longer lasting 1.5 volts? I forget the formulas for connecting batteries in series and parallel.

Thanks-Dart68

One or two batteries should be fine. One battery should make the gauge show about 1/3 full. If you put two of them in series you'll get three volts which should make the gauge show about 3/5 (a little more then half) full.

Steve G.

Thanks for the impute. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Thanks-Dart68