Gas gauge/Ohm Meter help

758 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by howieb4, May 22, 2015

howieb4

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2015

I'll admit that I am an Ohm meter flunkie. I have an older one with a needle and slide rule looking scale. I can use it for simple stuff(checking the battery, etc.) but when it come to checking for a ground, I'm lost. My gas gauge is also a flunkie. It reads full when it's empty, empty when it's full, the light comes on. who know why. I read a bunch of posts on checking the ground and other electrical sounding stuff, just not sure how to proceed. I'm hoping someone can provide me some detailed instructions on what and how to test, instead of just saying "check the ground".

Thanks

Save

1 - 3 of 3 Posts

alfaparticle

· #2 · May 21, 2015

If you measure the resistance between the sender terminal and ground you should see about 0 ohms when the tank is full, about 80 ohms when it is half full and about 160 ohms when the level makes the warning light come on. A completely empty tank is about 200 ohms.

Your gauge has three terminals for 12V, GND and the sender. You can test the gauge by connecting suitable resistors between the sender terminal and ground.

Save

howieb4

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 22, 2015

Thanks Ed, but my situation has changed a bit already. FWIW, my center console is out of the car getting repaired so the gas and temp gauge are just laying on the trans hump. The gauge has acted wonky before them sitting loose. But on my way into work I saw a puff of smoke and smelled that oh to familiar electrical burning smell. I looked at the gauges and there was a tiny bit of smoke coming from the back of the gas gauge. I am hoping that just a bit of debris got behind the gauge to cause the smoke. I grabbed the gauge and disconnected it as fast as I could, so if it was debris it's long gone.

Anyway, below is a photo of the gauge. There are two small nuts and bolts that are on the back. Are these terminals or just nuts that hold the gauge internals?

See less See more

Save

1 - 3 of 3 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Gas gauge/Ohm Meter help

howieb4

alfaparticle

howieb4

Attachments

Top Contributors this Month