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Jay O'Rourke
Jay O'Rourke Posted on Nov 13, 2015
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Fuel gauge not working

Fuel of gas but the gauge reads empty

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Jay Plesset

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  • Cars & Trucks Master 2,942 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 13, 2015
Jay Plesset
Cars & Trucks Master
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Joined: May 30, 2010
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You will need to test a number of things, the fuel gauge is part of a rather simple circuit.

Battery -> gauge -> tank sensor -> chassis ground to battery

If the circuit is broken at any of the steps, your gauge will read "empty". If the tank sensor is bad, it could read empty, or if the float in the tank has sunk, it will read empty.

I start at the gauge with a "test light" that glows when it sees battery voltage. Get a light at the connection to the gauge? Good. find the sensor connection, usually on top of the tank, accessible in the trunk. Probe with test light. Light on? Good. Connect wire to ground, gauge should read "full". If all that is as I said, then the tank sensor is bad. If you don't read battery at any step, you know where the problem is.

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