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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 352
 
| Hi People, When I purchased my 56 Dodge Custom Royal about 6 years ago the fuel gauge did not work. No biggie I said. The tank had a dent in it so it had to come off anyway to get straightened out. Looking at the Sender Unit It appeared to be the original and looking closer it was obvious the rheostat wire was worn right through. I order one from Van's Auto and stuck it in the newly refurbished tank. All good for a couple of years. A few weeks ago I ran out of gas with the gauge showing around 1/2 full. What happened? I blamed the Sender unit and ordered another unit, this time from MoparPro. I tested it for range which looked AOK. Then I pulled the trunk mat up and disconnected the wire from the unit that was still in the tank and connected it to the MoparPro unit using a jumper wire for a good ground. darn...the gauge still read 1/2 full when the float lever is moved to the Empty position (73 ohm). I left the Van's in and carried on. I will buy a NOS gauge if I can find one, Part nbr 1648.830 (This has the green face).
Has anyone seen this? and is there a simple fix?
Del S |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9672
  
Location: So. Cal | Any reproduction part is coming from the same manufacturer (Liland Global), despite a price increase from one distributor to another.
Try briefly grounding the wire to see if the gauge moves or not.
A common problem at the gauge end is not having the gauge properly grounded, so check that before you get too far. Loosen and tighten the screws that are holding it in place and see if it works then. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9905
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Del: Check your email.
Question to the peanut gallery: How can I test a used gauge to determine whether it works, i.e. "n"V = full, 1/2 n = 1/2 fuel etc??
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9672
Location: So. Cal | If you want to get fancy, just hook up a potentiometer to it, with a multimeter measuring the resistance of the pot. Turn the screw until it reads full and empty, and record the resistance numbers. 1/2 full should be midway between the full and empty resistance numbers. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9905
Location: Lower Mainland BC | .
Not sure if this helps or not:
 (55-56FuelGaugeWiringAndInfo.jpg)
 (55-56FuelGaugeWiringAndInfo_2.jpg)
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 55-56FuelGaugeWiringAndInfo.jpg (149KB - 51 downloads)
55-56FuelGaugeWiringAndInfo_2.jpg (147KB - 56 downloads)
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 352
| Thanks for all the info. I tested the gauge on the bench using the Van’s sender and then the MoparPro sender same scenario. I forgot to mention, with the gauge mounted in the dash and key off, the gauge needle returns to home (empty).
Edited by dels56 2023-09-14 6:28 PM
 (Fuel Gauge n Sender Bench Test 2.jpg)
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Fuel Gauge n Sender Bench Test 2.jpg (59KB - 62 downloads)
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Veteran
Posts: 165
Location: christchurch New Zealand | what was your opinion on the accuracy of the Vans and Mopar pro sender units when you were testing.
Thanks Geoff |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 352
| The MoparPro unit has a range of 96 to zero. I think it was meant for a 7” tank. I made a jig on my bench and drew lines at 7,6,5” etc and the arc the float traveled. At 6” (empty) 73/74 ohms, at full 4/5 ohms. So the float would actually touch the bottom of the tank if you ran dry. The lever arm is swagged in the pivot so I couldn’t easily shorten the arm.
The Van’s unit looks exactly like the O.E. unit. The ohmmeter read OL (overload) with the float lever moved against the full position stop. I could move it off the stop to zero. Then moving the lever to the empty position the reading was 60/63 ohms. I wanted to see how it was built so I took the rheostat cap off (easy) and saw the wand that rides on the winding is adjustable with a set screw. Loosening the setscrew and getting the wand in the correct spot was simple. Back together the range is from 73/74 to zero.
Either one will work with a bit of effort. Now to received and install my NOS gauge.
Del |
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Veteran
Posts: 165
Location: christchurch New Zealand | Thanks Del for the heads up. To date I used have NOS when rarely available and expensive, maybe the aftermarket ones are worth reconsidering.
Regards Geoff |
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Regular
Posts: 57
Location: Springfield, MO | I purchased my sending unit from Rockauto. Wayyyyyy cheaper than Vans and MoparPro. It is Liland Global. Like Powerflite said... They all are pretty much the only manufacturer. |
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Fuel gauge & Sender
