Technical Need A Cooler Mind (Fuel Gauge Issues)

Did you ever try looking inside the tank for some obstruction like I suggested?

 

Op & others of us have pet pees when thing do work correctly, I am More concerned that the gas gauge works correctly from 5/8s -1/2 to """E ""
then Full to 1/2 , but I drive my car enough to know I can go 100 miles (32) on 10 gal of gas driven it hard with 427 , I fill up @ 1/4 tank ...
I do not think I have ever had a fuel gauge work correctly on any thing , even my OT daily drivers not newer then 1991 now ,
& do no spend $ on Classic instruments fuel gauge calibration unit, its does not work as described at least the ones made five years ago,

 

If I get the same sweep with sender outside of the tank why would I begin thinking there's an obstruction in the tank?

Since you bring this up. Now that I know for sure that E is truly E and 5/8th is F I thought seriously yesterday about just putting it all back together as is. It is only now that I truly know what the gauge is telling me and no longer will have the feeling of were will this thing leave me stranded. But after all the work involved pulling the cluster out (tearing down whole up portion of steering column so cluster will clear and those two over engineered long studs that are a real pain to get to) why not replace the gauge since it's all open now rather than dig back into it later?

 

I mention this because it is worth looking into. I remember in the early 80's, that this was a problem on full size GM cars. The sending unit moves until it hits a wall.

 

80's !?

 

damn, i feel your frustration. i ran into this same deal on my 52. all new components, everything ohm'd right. fuel gauge would stop at 3/4". that was my full. never could figure it out, just ran with it for awhile, then one day, i filled up and it went to full and has been working right since. good luck.

 

65 year old components here. And get this. Original sender does a better job that the replacement sender.

 

Do you have access to a spare tank?
Tri-5 tanks are flat on the top to fit under the trunk floor, but the sender is mounted at an angle.
I used a spare old tank connected to the car with a couple of jumper wires [one for sender, and one for ground]

I installed the sender into this tank , then flipped the tank upside-down on blocks of wood.
This ^^^ simulated a "full tank" , then checked the gauge to match.

I wanted my gauge to read full, and also read empty with 2 gallons in the tank. So I used this method to manipulate the sender arm.

 

No, I've have done that before though. Have no desire to drop the tank so nothing a little creative jigging wouldn't answer what many of you a concerned with.

 

What I would do would be to a fuel gauge check. You can do this from the sender end. Now if the ohms readings are correct the fuel gauge then it is something else. if they are not correct then it is either the wire to the gauge or the gauge itself that is at fault. If this is the case try a new wire from the gauge to the sender.

 

Hasn't bench testing gauge with good sender using fully charged battery, fresh wire and new solid connections indicated anything ?

 

Point taken Johnny should have read all your replies properly. Does sound like a gauge at fault. Is there anywhere you can get the gauge repaired.

 

I spoke to a Tri-Five seller of used parts locally and he gave me a number to a relative that rebuilds all the core gauges he removes and ships to him. Just haven’t called him yet.

 

This may help but prolly not. Had 2 cars,59 one had very dim dash lights and gas gauge just didn't work right. Previous owner had completely painted under the dash. I was not getting good ground for anything on dash area .cleaned spot to bare metal no more issue. 2nd was also 59. same thing but dash lights would go out some times fuse was good, but corrosion between fuse and holder. It took a while to find this.. I hate electrical part of car!! You brought up point that its 6 yr old stuff. How much is aftermarket gas gauge, the correct ohm. use your sender connected to new gauge? Keep us posted.

 

This 57 is an all original unmolested 210. I checked for grounding first thing even though all dash lights were bright and temp gauge worked fine.

 

I was playing around with one of these a while ago because I have the same issue in my 55. It made a difference if the gauge itself was earthed. I thought about soldering a wire to the back of it and running it to a decent earth.

 

Is this the component that is not working correctly?
https://www.classicindustries.com/p...p.ds&msclkid=fea21ac25dd9155f6e33787ea338c046

 

Yes. That's a Fargo unit. I don't like their quality.

 

I understand.
Can you send original gauge to be rebuilt?

@e1956v , do you have a source who can rebuild 1957 Chevy gas gauge?

 

I have two sources.

 

None on eBay (1518711), but there is a NOS tank unit (1518776). Both #s according to a gm parts manual.

 

Seems I didn't click the "post reply" the other day when I posted that a replacement gauge was in route.

Now for current up date. The fuel gauge just arrived a short while ago and I've already mounted it the cluster and ran it thru it's motion's on the bench. Happy to report that the 57 now has a fully functioning fuel gauge once again.

 

Any way to check omes or ? on the gauge itself removed to one know functioning correct , it's been narrowed down that it was the gauge itself but why & what part of gauge ?
I personally do not like when that happens to me when I cannot figure out what the actual problem was, yes we know it's the gauge ,but what part of the gauge,
Some things / parts are pricey, hard to find , unavailable.

 

Theres some sort of degrading going on with mine. The gauge showed higher resistance when room temps were higher where as sender would not do this.

 

Doesn't really matter what part of the gauge is at fault. It is not user serviceable.

If you are the guy who is going to actually rebuild the gauge, then you may need where to start.

 

I donot know how to take / witch way to take ,,
Theres been alot of parts over years been told not Serviceable /fixable
was able to fix/ repair . Just depends on individual how determined they are
worth to them.
Most learn become more knowledge by taken things apart reading & experimenting.

 

If working on two thimble’s of copper wire (coils in the gauge) the thickness of human hair easy to do there wouldn’t be a need for shops that specialize in gauge repair.

 

Im aware of how small the wire is,
The average human hair is .0005 thou.
My 1938 SB lathe came with books most pre WII showing how to fix/make do repairs out on the Farm when more likely the General store / automotive shop was 50 plus miles away & how you would use your tractor / truck with a belt , then run multiple tools / equipment, then use your lathe to rewinding armature on the lathe , & much more , so fortunately for me knowledge from family & old books was passed On how to think outside the box!

 

Disagree on the Classic Instruments unit. I have one. Works great.

 

When did you purchase?
@ time I purchased It was new to market, I was trying to calibrate to a 32 Ford gas tank , tried multiple brand gauges SW's Autometer, different series &VDO , with different senders also,
Then called tec support, was told it was not capable to calibrate correct Reading in between empty and full (1/8 , 1/4 1/2, so on , Only E & F ,,,New ones might be smarter.