Gas guage issue

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Old Dec 6, 2014 | 12:20 PM
  #1  
over my head's Avatar
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1969 442
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 29
From: Knoxville,TN
Gas guage issue

Can anyone please help me figure out why my gas guage is like this? The needle won't move and seems to fall way to the right side and it's stuck there, is it a wiring issue or will I have to replace the guage? If it's fixable does anyone have a diagram or something to give me a hand? I really appreciate it!
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Old Dec 6, 2014 | 01:09 PM
  #2  
oldcutlass's Avatar
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 42,496
From: Poteau, Ok
There are tons of threads on fuel gauge issues if you do a search. Basically it's probably your sending unit in the tank. If you remove the wire from the tank and ground it with the key on. The needle will go to E, that means everything else is good.
Old Dec 6, 2014 | 01:52 PM
  #3  
Octania's Avatar
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 7,286
Ah yes the "Hot Fuel" issue
At first it looked like your "710" light lettering was backwards, but the issue was that the photo appears on my screen rotated 90 degrees.
Old Dec 7, 2014 | 08:43 PM
  #4  
Fun71's Avatar
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 15,409
From: Phoenix, AZ
Mine does that occasionally. I think the sending unit wire where it attaches to the sending unit terminal on top of the tank is loose. I can wiggle the wire behind the license plate and it starts working correctly again. I'm just too lazy to drop the tank and tighten the connector.

edit: I should have mentioned I also had this issue on my '70 Supreme. I wasn't so lazy back then, so I dropped the tank and that is when I discovered the sending unit was fine and it was just a loose wire. It's a push-on style connector that goes onto a threaded stud, so I just used some pliers to crush the connector slightly and it was MUCH tighter when I pushed it back onto the stud. The gauge worked correctly for the next 10 years or so until I got rid of the car.

Last edited by Fun71; Dec 10, 2014 at 03:47 PM.
Old Dec 8, 2014 | 05:50 PM
  #5  
kbass72's Avatar
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 24
From: new hampshire
Mine was like that when i bought my 70 cutlass, i was told it was most likely a bad sending unit. Put in a new sending unit and works fine now.
Old Dec 8, 2014 | 06:22 PM
  #6  
Macadoo's Avatar
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From: Central Illinois
Looks like I'll be jiggling some wires this weekend
Old Dec 8, 2014 | 06:37 PM
  #7  
jaunty75's Avatar
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 15,194
From: southeastern Michigan
You have an open circuit. It could be in the wire between the dash gauge and the sending unit. It could be a bad connection between the sending unit and ground. If both are OK, it's likely the sending unit itself.

Your gauge pointing well past the Full mark is actually very consistent with an open circuit. The gauge is just an Ohm meter, and the sending unit reads anywhere from zero Ohms (Empty) to 90 Ohms (Full). An open circuit is infinite resistance, which is much higher than 90 Ohms resistance, so the needle moves well past the F mark.
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