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Fuel gauge question??

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N

nomad

Yoda
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So the fuel gauge in my BE has started reading full all the time till the tank is almost empty. Does the rheostat in the sending unit have maximum resistance at the full reading or the empty? If it has maximum resistance at full then I would expect the movable contact on the coil to have stopped making contact. Something that would be fixable.

Any other suggestion's???

Are the new sending units any good??

Kurt.
 
Hi Kurt,
A full reading all the time, assuming it was working correctly at one time, means that the sense wire (wire from gauge to sender unit) has a high resistance, or has been removed. Since the sense wire can not be easily removed from the sending unit (it is inserted from the top), I would suggest that you disconnect the green/black wire from the gauge (labeled T). With the ignition on, momentarily short the sense terminal to ground. This should cause the needle to show a zero reading. If so that means the gauge is probably good. A common problem with BE fuel gauges, is that the tank (and the attached sending unit) loses a ground. I always add a jumper between the screws holding the sending unit to the tank and a ground external to the tank (like one of the tank mounting screws). A good write up on gauges for the BE can be found at mgaguru.com. The BE uses a system much like the MGA. To answer your other question, no I have not found the aftermarket sending unit to be very reliable. Buy from Moss, and you get a 2 year warranty.....or have an original one rebuilt....by whom, I do not know. They are out there though!
 
Thanks, Scott. Sooo, high resistance gives a full reading which would leave lots of possibility's which you suggest. Should have though of the MGA Guru. The sending unit itself shouldn't be hard to work on unless the rheostat wire is broken. Most likely I won't have to go that far. A ground issue seems likely.

Kurt.
 
Bugeyeguy.com sells a really nice one. I bought one from Moss, but the Bugeyeguy was a littler nicer. I saw it after all the work was done.
Paul
 
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