Fuel gauge shuts down

[esebm]

Hi,

On my '96 302 (360k mi) the fuel gauge comes on and shuts down intermittendly. Before I rip apart the dash or the fuel tank, is this a known problem with an easy fix?

Thanks,

Ed

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Hi,
On my '96 302 (360k mi) the fuel gauge comes on and shuts down intermittendly. Before I rip apart the dash or the fuel tank, is this a known problem with an easy fix?

Thanks,

Ed

Hi Ed,

I've been hanging here three and a half months now, and have seen a couple of posts about the fuel guage. It certainly is NOT the commonest thing on a list of problems for Broncos. It seems that the most often cause is either a bad sending unit in the tank, a bad connection at the tank, or a bad ground.

joe

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Hi Ed,I've been hanging here three and a half months now, and have seen a couple of posts about the fuel guage. It certainly is NOT the commonest thing on a list of problems for Broncos. It seems that the most often cause is either a bad sending unit in the tank, a bad connection at the tank, or a bad ground.

joe

Here is a list of grounds for a '92 - '96 bronc

The Haynes manual lists 10 separate grounds... A-J.

A. Starter mounting bolt

B. Right front of Engine compartment near the battery

C. Lower left front of engine

D. Right front of engine compartment on upper radiator support.

E. Left front of engine compartment Upper radiator support

F. Bottom of cowl panel

G. Rear of left fender apron

H. Behind bottom of right cowl panel

I. Left rear corner of cargo area near rear lamp assembly

J. Under center rear of vehicle on rear cross member.

 

[muddinlate86]

also i just figured out that my ign.switch is a little"worn" and if its not turned just right then my gage doesnt work

just an idea?

 

[Redneck86]

Same with my truck, i have to put the key in the "ON" position after crankin it, it wont pop back far enough by itself. Unless i do that oil pressure, water temp, fuel guages plus the radio and heater wont work. Only gauges that do anything are the speedo and tach, that becuase my speedo is cable driven and the tach gets it signal from the coil.

 

[miesk5]

yo!

"Fuel Level Sender & Gauge Wiring for '92-96 Broncos

Sender Range: 160 (full) - 16 (empty) Ohms

A gauge that pegs past full indicates an open circuit (broken wire; unplugged connector; corroded terminal; burned sender) on the Y/W wire.

A gauge that pegs past empty indicates a short to ground (pinched to the frame, body, or dash supports) on the Y/W wire, OR a sunk float.

A gauge that doesn't move indicates an open circuit (blown fuse; corroded terminal) on the power (battery) side of the gauge OR a bad instrument cluster ground at C251 pin 9.

The terminals of C251 (& C250) are known to corrode & lose contact. Polish both the connector pins AND the film circuit pads with brown paper or a pink eraser.

TEMPORARY - still working on C441 pinout..."

see Steve's Link above for diagram

 

[esebm]

As to the grounding issues, I think if any of those ground connections would be bad, more than just the fuel gauge would go out intermittendly. In my case, it might be the sending unit in the tank or the wire connection on top of the tank.

Is there any foolproof way to determine with any certainty that the sending unit (float) is working or not?

 

[BroncoJoe19]

As to the grounding issues, I think if any of those ground connections would be bad, more than just the fuel gauge would go out intermittendly. In my case, it might be the sending unit in the tank or the wire connection on top of the tank.
Is there any foolproof way to determine with any certainty that the sending unit (float) is working or not?

Posts #2 and #3 of this thread should be helpful

http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?s=&...ost&p=29198

joe