Hi everyone,

I have a 1970 98 LS and the fuel gauge has been stuck at 3/4 since I bought it three years ago. It probably has been stuck much longer. When I disconnect the brown wire in the trunk it goes past F as it should but when I ground the wire it only goes to 1/2 instead of E. I did a resistance check on the sender end by putting the one lead on the trunk plug (sender end) and the other to ground and I get zero ohms. What else should I check? I don't want to drop the tank if the sender isn't the problem. I also can't find a canister sender anywhere anyways. The car only has 67,000 miles, how long should the sender last?

Thanks,
Steve

 

This test completely removes the sender from the circuit, so if the gauge is not going to E, the problem is likely in the gauge itself on the dash, not in the sending unit.


Time takes as much toll as mileage, if not more. That sender is 49 years old. If you need to replace it, try a sender for a '72 Delta 88. That's what I used in my '67 Delta, which also had the canister-style sending unit.

 

I was thinking it was the gauge too, unfortunately. It would be a lot easier to substitute a '72 sending unit then find an original '70 fuel gauge that works. Is there anything I should look at on the gauge that could cause the problem?