57 Chev Fuel Guage Question

I'm tired of running out of gas in my 57 chev. I tested the dash gauge by taking the brown wire off with ignition on and the the gauge didn't peg itself. it's defective right? can you take the gauge out and if the needle moves left to right, it's ok? --I"m looking for a fuel gauge i guess, anyone got one?

 

Try this web page-may help. If you think you still need a guage I have a couple of clusters--but don't remember if they have the gauges in them or not. Will look this evening.
http://eastcoastchevy.com/X6tech/tech_gas.html

 

I think what you need to do is leave the guage hooked up, but ground the sender wire.

 

How do you know it isn't the sending unit? Did you test it?

FWIW, I replaced the br*** float on my sending unit several times, unknowingly cracking it in the process.

 

usually on a 50 year old car there are about 8 different things wrong with the gas gage....sunk float, bad resistor on sender, sender not grounded, gage not grounded, no power to gage, gage connected backwards, wire from sender to gage shorted or open, bad gage, etc.

btdt. many times.

 

yes, it could be the sender or the gauge. my chevy repair manual says to take the brown wire off the gauge with the ign switch off and if the gauge pegs all the way to the right, the gauge is good. i did this and the gauge didn't peg itself meaning the gauge is bad, right??

 

....***uming the gage is getting power, and the wires were connected right, and you disconneced the sender wire, then yes, the gage is bad. It should read past full when it has power on the IGN terminal, but infinite resistance (disconnected) on the SND side.

 

Also make sure the gauge and dash have a good ground. have seen instances where the dash is grounded well but the gauge itself has lost its ground throught the dash. personal experience.

 

Ken, did you get a chance to see if you had any extra fuel gauges around? thanks

 

I'm pretty sure I have a 57 fuel gage, not pretty but I think it works.

 

Sorry it took longer to get back than expected. I have 2 clusters with fuel gauges. Don't know if they work or not. Been put away in garage for years. Trying to find a spare sender to see if I can test or you can try one if you want. Later.

 

i'm interested if someone wants to get rid of a fuel gauge thanks

 

I dug out the one I have and tested it, it seems to work ok although you may want to bend the needle to the left a hair so it reads empty when the tank is empty. it's had a new background sticker put on, the paint on theneedle is faded though.

pm me where to send it....

 

pm sent, thanks a bunch!

 

Just got home--played softball tonight. Tested both mine--one works the other doesn't. The one that works has had the lines touched up with a brush--is noticeable. If squirrels doesn't work let me know. I will keep mine out on the bench. Good luck.

 

sent pm, thanks

 

Guys I am having the same problem with a new sending unit (Grounded) and gauge grounded.. any help will be appreciated.

 

Ground the brown wire and the gage will peg if it's good. If you have the sender out you can hook the sender to the gage power to the gage. Then move the float up and down. See if it works. The sender and gage need to be on a common ground.floats are a big problem. Used to could buy just a float from Ford and they were better quality than those from across the ocean.