1940 Std Ford Gas Gauge

[tweetiebirdcenter]

The gas gauge on my 40 reads full all the time when running or the key is on. I disconnected the wire at the sender in the tank and it still went over to full. I checked the power at the gauge and there is power on one side at the buss bar but not on the other side of the gauge. I grounded the wire at the sender and it didn't make any difference. Is it possible that the wire that goes from the sender is grounding somewhere? Last question, does the fuel gauge go to full all the time and then picks up the signal from the sending unit in the tank? The heat gauge in my 51' Vicky operates this way?

 

[koates]

With ignition ON. Ground the sender terminal AT THE FUEL GAUGE and see the result which should cause the gauge to go to full. Take the sender wire off the gauge first. With the ignition OFF the fuel gauge should read empty but the temp gauge should be on hot with ignition off. Report back results. Regards, Kevin.

 

[tweetiebirdcenter]

HI Kevin, I did what you told me to do and the gauge did not move but had power to one side. When I bought the car it looked like it had a fresh wiring loom so I assumed that the wire to the sender was ok. I took a long wire and went from the sender to the gauge and it worked. I did not want to split open the new loom so I ran a new wire. I think that somewhere within the loom it is grounding.
Thanx for your help!

 

[Ken/Alabama]

If you ground the sender terminal on the gauge it should sweep to full. Disconnect the sender wire at the gauge. It should read empty. If it doesn't I'd be looking at the gauge. If it does I'd pull the sender out , it may be stuck.