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Old 03-03-2008, 09:52 PM   #1
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Fuel Gauge Not Working

Well guys I bought a 89 Iroc 350 auto not to long ago. Gas Gauge doesnt work though. It sits way past full at all times. I have changed the gauge and it just reads as full as it will go. Wondering if anyone has had this problem and knows what to look at. If you dont know which they are the color wires coming off the fuel tank wiring is appreciated to try and find were the problem is currently, but again any knowledge or help with fixing or diagnosing this is helpful, thanks in advance.
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Old 03-04-2008, 11:24 AM   #2
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Sounds like a break in the wiring or connection somewhere. If you disconnect the plug from a the gas tank wiring with a working set-up,... the gas gauge floats all the way UP.

Your issue could be the wiring at the fuel tank pick-up, along the harness to the cluster, or the printed circuit on the cluster itself.

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Old 03-04-2008, 11:30 AM   #3
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

purple wire coming from the sending unit to my knowledge. I think it's 0 to 90 Ohms??? Can't remember but 0 is empty.

Tan is the pump and black is the ground. Make sure the ground is good on the pump harness.
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Old 03-16-2008, 06:57 PM   #4
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Thanks for your help guys fuel gauge now fixed as off today 3/16/08
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Old 03-17-2008, 06:19 PM   #5
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

I have the same problem. What did you do to fix it? The schematic shows a ground (G304)
for the sender and shows it being on rear seat bracket. I dont have any grounds there.
Thanks
Shawn
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Old 03-20-2008, 12:22 AM   #6
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Well I ended up actually having to change my sending unit as it was real rusty from someone changing the fuel pump and forgetting to re-install the o-ring seal

For you though I think your talking about were the wires ground out under the driverside rear seat, if your car is really rusty you might just need to change the ground to a seperate location (i suggest the seat belt bolts as they make great grounds and are hidden), That would at least be were I would start and hope this helps you
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Old 03-20-2008, 04:46 PM   #7
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Thanks for your help. I pulled the seats and could not find any grounds. Does anyone have a pic of this ground under the back seat?
Thanks
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Old 03-25-2008, 08:50 PM   #8
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

see my gauge works interminently where is teh ground for the sender because that will be my first spot to look.
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Old 03-25-2008, 08:53 PM   #9
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

three wires coming from the sending unit, tan/white stripe (power for the fuel pump), purple (power for the fuel level float to tell how much fuel you have), and black that grounds both out, you would not have fuel pump to my knowledge if you don't have fuel guage. But tracing that black wire would put you coming into the body behind the rear seats under the carpet.
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Old 03-25-2008, 11:13 PM   #10
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

just went out and checked, there is this block looking thing that is bolted to the axle hump underneath the carpet behind the rear seats. 3 wires (described above) come from the sending unit, into a plug, plug is attatched to said rivited box, box is rivited to other side of sheet metal inside the car bringing 3 wires in, purple and tan/white stripe (described above) come in and go down driver side rocker with all the other wires of the car, while the black wire grounds out to the rear seat bump (you will understand if you remove your rear driver seat), underneath the front of the bottom driver side cusion.

Purple wire should go to guages, and tan/white stripe wire breaks in two (should be under dash area???), one going to the ECU as a signal wire and one going through the firewall to the fuel pump relay in the engine compartment, towards the driver side fender against the firewall.
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Last edited by 84redta; 03-25-2008 at 11:14 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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Old 04-14-2008, 01:39 PM   #11
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Hi,

I'm in the same boat with my wife's Corsica.

Black wire is ground for both: fuel level & pump. Then, if you have fuel pressure (fuel pump ON), you have good ground.

Purple wire is positive fuel sender voltage. You can test with a ohmeter at the socket near to the fuel tank (You can know if the problem is IN or OUT of tank).

If you replace the fuel sender unit , be sure to use a 0 - 90 ohms sender (used for GM). Other cars uses 30 - 240, etc (I don't be sure if 0 ohms is empty or full).

Denis V.
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Old 01-25-2009, 09:35 PM   #12
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

i've got a 1990 iroc z and as well my fuel guage isnt working. i dropped a 350 carb motor into it. and this is what i have came up with. i have pulled the tank out and hooked the sending unit up and manually operate the float and my guage wont go past a half tank. when i unplug it from the connector it goes all the way past full. i've tested my sending unit and it passed. Anyone have any ideas what would be causing this? any suggestions would be apppreciated thx jeremy
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Old 07-15-2009, 05:32 PM   #13
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Any updates on your progress?
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Old 08-11-2009, 01:43 PM   #14
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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Originally Posted by IrocZ85 View Post
Thanks for your help guys fuel gauge now fixed as off today 3/16/08
what did u do to repair your fuel gauge problem im having the same problem and it sucks running out of gas !
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Old 10-15-2010, 04:09 PM   #15
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

i got an 82 camaro and the gas gauge points strait up, dome light doesn't turn on, cigarette lighter doesn't work, and the horn doesn't work??
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Old 10-16-2010, 08:34 AM   #16
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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i got an 82 camaro and the gas gauge points strait up, dome light doesn't turn on, cigarette lighter doesn't work, and the horn doesn't work??

did you check the fuses?
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Old 10-17-2010, 03:33 AM   #17
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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did you check the fuses?
Checked them and found one fuse blown an that fixed the dome light and ciggerete lighter. The horn still doesn't work niether the gas gauge and I have checked to see if mayb
e a ground wire was loose or getting a bad connection and it was just fine
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Old 10-17-2010, 03:54 AM   #18
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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Checked them and found one fuse blown an that fixed the dome light and ciggerete lighter. The horn still doesn't work niether the gas gauge and I have checked to see if mayb
e a ground wire was loose or getting a bad connection and it was just fine
Do you have an aftermarket steering wheel? Did you check connections at the horn and at the horn button? When I bought my camaro the horn didn't work because someone removed it and never replaced it.
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Old 10-17-2010, 08:59 AM   #19
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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Checked them and found one fuse blown an that fixed the dome light and ciggerete lighter. The horn still doesn't work niether the gas gauge and I have checked to see if mayb
e a ground wire was loose or getting a bad connection and it was just fine
thats good
my dome light fuse keeps blowing so i keep spares in my trunk.

that 25 amp circuit on my year (1983) provides power to the interior lights, radio, tail lights, parking lights. power trunk release and etc

i am still trying find the source to this dilema.

Is the gas gauge past the "F" Mark? if yes, then you have a bad sending unit.
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Old 10-20-2010, 01:51 PM   #20
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Yah it's way past the F. How bad is it to get to the sending unit? When I changed my fuse I saw that the dome light turned on so I started wondering if it fixed my ciggeret lighter so I pluged it in and it blew the fuse. So mabe try just leaving your ciggeret lighter out to see if it helps
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Old 10-20-2010, 08:06 PM   #21
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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Yah it's way past the F. How bad is it to get to the sending unit? When I changed my fuse I saw that the dome light turned on so I started wondering if it fixed my ciggeret lighter so I pluged it in and it blew the fuse. So mabe try just leaving your ciggeret lighter out to see if it helps
what is the make and model of you KARR? what is the motor ?

as long as you dont have the crossfire injection you are golden

do you have a console light ? are there any metal fragments in the ciggarete lighter?

you could have a short somewhere.
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Old 10-26-2010, 07:18 PM   #22
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

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you could have a short somewhere.
Most likely a short if fuse keeps blowing. that was the case back when I had my S10. The radio,horn, and dome light were on the same fuse so when I hit the horn, the dome light would come on!

I just got my 85 camaro back from the shop. They said I need a new instrument cluster. The signal is fine from the sender all the way to the dash until the connector where the wire goes in. I've dropped in another needle and it does the same thing. sits at 3 o clock or bounces around everywhere. The question I have is: If I'm going to get another cluster, can I take one from a IROC camaro? I want to have the tach and gauges instead of lights. To those who know the answer, I don't know much about cars, but I'll understand as best I can.
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Old 03-24-2011, 02:33 PM   #23
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

so i have an 85 camaro with a manual fuel pump, the fuel gauge isn't working, bought a new one still won't work, when i hook it up it goes straight to F maybe a little past when i disconnect the ground. I tested the sending wire and ground for OHMS, the circuit said i had around 27.7 ohms which is a little over 2 gallons which is what i knew was in there. so why does my gauge go to full when i hook it up when i can read ohms with multimeter?
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Old 03-24-2011, 07:35 PM   #24
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

Quote:
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so i have an 85 camaro with a manual fuel pump, the fuel gauge isn't working, bought a new one still won't work, when i hook it up it goes straight to F maybe a little past when i disconnect the ground. I tested the sending wire and ground for OHMS, the circuit said i had around 27.7 ohms which is a little over 2 gallons which is what i knew was in there. so why does my gauge go to full when i hook it up when i can read ohms with multimeter?
your the fuel tank sending unit is bad
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Old 03-30-2011, 06:37 PM   #25
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

ok im having the same prob but i do know that my sending unit is bad i just dont know where to look for one if you have any ideas please let me know thanks you
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Old 10-21-2011, 05:43 PM   #26
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

I have a 90 RS i bought as a shell,put a 350 carb set up in it,it didn't have a fuel tank in it so I found a fuel tank out of a 83 and used it.I cut the lead off of a 90 fuel tank and hooked up the wires to the 83 fuel tank.the gauge does not lift off of E.the computer is not in the car either,is it necessary for the gauge to work.
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Old 10-23-2011, 06:06 PM   #27
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Re: Fuel Gauge Not Working

dont need the computer for the gauges.
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Old 10-24-2011, 05:56 PM   #28
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Acting Fuelishly

Here’s how to test the fuel gage.

Remove the sender wire going to the gage.

Tape the bare end of the sender wire and put it aside.

Use a potentiometer with a value of 100Ω or the closest you can find.

Connect one end the potentiometer to the gage from the location you removed the sender.

Connect the wiper of the potentiometer to ground.

Turn the key to RUN.

Slowly adjust the potentiometer from 0Ω to 90Ω.

If the gage is bad it will exhibit the problem you have.

If the gage is good it will display a smooth transition from one end of it’s range to the other.

Therefore the problem is with the sender or wiring going to it.

You can use a loose potentiometer, or you can throw together a quick little panel like this one.




Happy Racing!



I Don’t Mind Wreckin’ On The Track, No Paperwork To Fill Out

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