1970 98 LS Fuel Gauge stuck at 3/4

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Old April 10th, 2019, 09:47 PM
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1970 98 LS Fuel Gauge stuck at 3/4

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
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Old April 11th, 2019, 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by smparr
when I ground the wire it only goes to 1/2 instead of E.
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.


Originally Posted by smparr
The car only has 67,000 miles, how long should the sender last?
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.

Last edited by jaunty75; April 11th, 2019 at 12:05 PM.
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Old April 11th, 2019, 11:18 PM
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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?
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