Gas gauge not working

88_AHB

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Hey everyone,
I was trying to diagnose what might be causing my gas gauge to not work. Ever since I received the car my 88 dippy,the gauge has not worked. I had to drop the gas tank months back and replaced the pickup and sending unit. After this the gauge still hasn't functioned. Is there a common problem or issues on our cars that cause the gauge not to work? I'm not that good with chasing down electrical gremlins. I have another gas gauge that I can throw in to see if its just that but curious if there's anything else to check and see. Any help or advice appreciated thanks!
 

Mr C

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Often the problem is a bad ground. Did you replace the ground strap when you did the tank?

It spans the rubber line on the fuel line to ground the things. Guage won't work without it.

groundstrap.jpg
 

88_AHB

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I dont think I replaced the ground, I figured like almost everything for our cars replacements are near impossible to find?
 

Aspen500

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Your car should have a separate ground wire that goes right to the sending unit. Not sure on an '88 whether it hooks to a spade terminal on the sender or is integrated into the fuel sender connector. Could also be a permanently attached wire with an eyelet on one end. Don't know when they went to ground wire vs the strap over the hose and grounding through the fuel line other than it was in the mid '70's at some point.

There should be 5 volts at the sender that comes from the cluster, through the fuel gauge. The sender is a variable ground. With the 5 volt supply wire grounded , the gauge should be pegged on full.
 

88_AHB

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Thanks everyone I'll crawl under the car possibly tomorrow. I'll see which one it has or should have and hopefully this does the trick. I should also take a multi meter and check for voltage since I will be down there.
 
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