Fuel gauge not working

[euroZ06]

Hi,

So i have a fairly new gauge cluster (looks brand new actually). It seems like the fuel gauge, temp gauge and pressure gauge were not connected. There is a 3 gauge pod under the ashtray, but it doesnt have fuel gauge. I took the car to a shop to get headers installed and asked them to fix it, but they didnt get to it. They said the sending unit does send a signal. So its a cluster item. Any advice? And if the cluster needs to be removed, any instructions/tips?

68 charger

[ALBSURE1091]

To test if it's actually the gauge you need to ground out the wire to the sending unit. Disconnect the wire from sending unit and ground it to the frame. If the gauge is functioning the needle will pin to full. If that happens then it's the sending unit and not your gauge. If the needle doesn't move when you ground the sending unit wire then you'll have to do more work to find issue. It can be a number of issues but in most cases it's a bad sending unit. Doing the ground test is always the first test & usually confirms a bad sending unit. Good luck!

[euroZ06]

To test if it's actually the gauge you need to ground out the wire to the sending unit. Disconnect the wire from sending unit and ground it to the frame. If the gauge is functioning the needle will pin to full. If that happens then it's the sending unit and not your gauge. If the needle doesn't move when you ground the sending unit wire then you'll have to do more work to find issue. It can be a number of issues but in most cases it's a bad sending unit. Doing the ground test is always the first test & usually confirms a bad sending unit. Good luck!

I have a feeling it just wasnt connected. So id like to take the cluster out and see if thats the problem. How do i take it out?

[303 Mopar]

To test if it's actually the gauge you need to ground out the wire to the sending unit. Disconnect the wire from sending unit and ground it to the frame. If the gauge is functioning the needle will pin to full. If that happens then it's the sending unit and not your gauge. If the needle doesn't move when you ground the sending unit wire then you'll have to do more work to find issue. It can be a number of issues but in most cases it's a bad sending unit. Doing the ground test is always the first test & usually confirms a bad sending unit. Good luck!

I have a feeling it just wasnt connected. So id like to take the cluster out and see if thats the problem. How do i take it out?

Taking the cluster out is a major chore compared to simply grounding the sending unit. Start with that before you do a bunch of unnecessary work.

[ALBSURE1091]

Taking cluster out is a chore but if you feel you need to do by all means have at it. Just take all the screws out on front on cluster then disconnect everything in back.  It's a little easier if you remove steering wheel and lower steering column but it can still be done without doing that. Takes a lot of time & patience. Also remove radio plate & radio if equipped. That's basically in my experience the easiest way to get your hands back there to remove the connections to the cluster. Once the speedo cable is disconnected you will have a little more room to work cause the cluster should pull out a little more. Again it's a chore but doable. I would definitely do the ground test first before any of this.

[euroZ06]

Guys, the shop did test the sending unit, they said the signal is coming from the gas tank. Not sure what that means, but my temp and pressure gauge are not working either. Just the altimiter, speedo and tach are working. All lights work too. So i just assume those werent connected.

Is there a way to check connection without removing the cluster? What sort of connector should be going to the fuel gauge?

[70 sublime]

The temp , oil and gas gauge all get their power from the same voltage limiter on the back of the dash printed circuit board
It cuts the 12 volts down to around 5 volts
If this is burnt out or even missing none of those 3 gauges will work

Think that would be the first thing to check

Not easy to do if the dash is all together 

[ALBSURE1091]

70 Sublime is correct. On back of cluster is a voltage limiter that supplies power to those gauges. That limiter has been know to burn out. Maybe you'll be lucky and it could be as simple as the connector is not plugged into it. It's pretty hard to get to it without removing cluster. With the radio out and the cluster screws removed you might be able to have enough room to peek in and at least see if the harness connector is plugged into it.  Unfortunately the best way to correct the issue is to remove cluster make sure your main harness is all in tact and test the cluster gauges & limiter. Electrical gremlins are the worst but with time & patience and input on here you'll be able to solve to problem.

[euroZ06]

Thanks guys. I will put it in as winter project.

[euroZ06]

Any pics of the back side of the panel? So that if im just taking a pic in the back of it...

[euroZ06]

The temp , oil and gas gauge all get their power from the same voltage limiter on the back of the dash printed circuit board
It cuts the 12 volts down to around 5 volts
If this is burnt out or even missing none of those 3 gauges will work

Think that would be the first thing to check

Not easy to do if the dash is all together 

Do u by chance know the location of this limiter? Or a pic of the back side of the dash?

[euroZ06]

So i looked on the bottom of the panel, and i feel like if i remove the steering column, i should be able to get to the back of the dash. Am i right? Is the steering column easy to remove? What kind of connector should be going to the fuel gauge?

[BLK 68 R/T]

I was able to get to mine and change it without removing the cluster, just had to unhook the speedo cable from the back.