Chevy Mechanics.....Farm related.

banjoman09

Well-known Member
My ol grain truck has a fuel gauge issue (1963 Chevy C-60) ; always thought it worked but- you know how that is:) Pulled it
out today and showed empty on gauge so I put 5 gals in it- needle still didnt move. Tank is behind the seat and when I grounded the wire on the
sender the gauge doesnt move either...no juice on the wire to the sending unit....does it have 12V ?
 
Not necessarily 12.5, but voltage should be there when disconnected. If grounding it does nothing. You can assume the gauge is not getting a supply, or the gauge is bad. Jim
 
TO check the sender with an ohm meter move the float up and down and watch the needle. If it moves it is working then touch the hot and ground wires to the sender if the gage moves you have a connection problem at the sender wires at tank. Or just fill it each morning and forget about it.
 
Where were you grounding it, to the tank? Possibly the tank has lost it's ground.

If you're sure there was a good ground at the tank, and still no gauge movement, it's a bad dash gauge, bad connection from the gauge to the tank, loss of power to the dash unit, some dash units need a case ground.

It could be both. If the tank unit has not worked in a while, good chance it is bad too, they corrode and wear out internally.
 
My dad's old GMC's gas tank was behind the seat. His gas gauge was a yard stick he carried on top of the gas tank. Always worked. Measured his gas in inches.
 
(quoted from post at 18:12:34 09/24/21) My dad's old GMC's gas tank was behind the seat. His gas gauge was a yard stick he carried on top of the gas tank. Always worked. Measured his gas in inches.
y Dad did stick thru sender hole too & he never re-attached sender to tank.....obviously no fear of potential for fire. On the truck in question 0 Ohms = Empty, 40-50 Ohms = Full. On my 1962 Chevy, the sender inside the tank has a metal strap making a connection on it and it cracked due to vibration , I suppose, and I re-connected it and still working today. It was always showing Full.
 
yes I can use a stick...lol...I just like things to work:) With the key on- the gauge reads empty when I remove the wire on the sending unit- the needle goes to the right....or past full; when I ground the wire ; it goes back to empty; so I did replace the sending unit about 5 yrs ago- maybe it is bad again? Thanks.
 
The dash gauge on my '53 chevy hasn't worked since I got it. My gauge is a piece of clear tubing tee'd into the fuel line and running up the firewall.

At one point, I installed a fuel selector valve and a lawnmower tank on the dash in case I needed some for 'reserve' to get home on.
 
Been many years back, but the best I remember--
Don't know about Chevy, but International of that era had a regulator in the gauge circuit that affected the gauges.
 
1973 GMC Pickup....gas gauge was broken when I bought the truck (among other things) and when I began to hear the chain rattle in the tank, it was time to go fill up. Never ran out of gas but also never knew how much gas was in the tank. Your mileage may vary.
 
It could be the brass float has gotten a hole in it and is full of gas. Seeing how you say it was replaced 5 years ago makes it seem unlikely, but these days you never know. See link for replacement, not necessarily the cheapest option but it showed it fit your truck, shop around more if you like. YT may even carry them but their parts search function is crappy.
Poke here
 
Pulled the sending unit and yes; the float was no longer on the wire arm - fell off I guess. So your message is a life saver! Thanks! Now the screen filter also is bad....have a link for it also? I did Google the complete sending unit and so far no luck. Thanks!
 

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