Problem with gas gauge or gas tank

E

ed mazzola

Junior Member
Gas gauge stopped working just before 1/4 of a tank does anybody have any ideas where I should start looking.

Thanks ED
 
Need to start by figuring out if it's the sender or the gauge. You can test the gauge with a "D" cell battery. Disconnect the current wiring to the gauge. One battery is 1.5v and should when wired to the gauge should read ~1/2 scale, two batteries (3.0v) should read ~ Full Scale. Do not leave the batteries connected for very long, just a quick test. The shop manual recommends testing the sender by connecting it to a know good gauge, that might be a little hard to come up with!
 
I just put a new inexpensive sender unit from Mac's in my 39 fuel tank and it solved the problem. Old unit was badly corroded. Jon L.
 
I'd start with the sender, Ed. Seems like your gauge is ok. Depending on which sender you get, you may need to cut and bend the arm on the float, based on the depth of your tank. I'm in the process of installing a new tank and sender in my '39. The replacement tank is nine inches deep. The new sender came with a chart to tell me how long to make the float arm and where to put the 90 degree bend.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Dick.
 
Disconnect the wire at the sender and ground it. With the Ign. switch on, the gage should go to full. If this works, the problem is with the sender and with today's corn gas, the cork float is probably saturated and will not float. I replaced mine on my 39 with a neoprene float that you can get from the model A suppliers.
 
The gauge test described above does give one a fair indicator if the gauge still has continuity and sweep travel. Several things can occur to the gauge or sender to cause a non functional scenario. We find that it is often the sending unit, though gauges are frequently overheated. We service both and recommend using an original or rebuilt sender. Our customers have found that the aftermarket senders available are often incorrect.
www.morrisgauge.com
 
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