93 Explorer Fuel Guage

[talleman]

I recently purchased a 93 Explorer 6 cyl, 4WD. It's in great shape except the fuel gauge does not work. I bought a Haynes manual for it, and to start troubleshooting, tried to locate the electrical connector for the fuel sending unit, so that I could put an ohmeter on it as a way of seeing if the sending unit was reading correctly. I could not locate the connector, as it didn't appear to be on the left frame rail, like Haynes stated. Anyway, the truck runs great, just doesn't have a working fuel gauge. Can anyone guide me as to where I'd get started before I make unnecessary assumptions? Should I just plan to drop the tank and replace the sending unit, or could it be something else? I checked the fuse box, fyi, and there is no fuse designated for the fuel gauge on this year/model.

Thanks
TA

 

[PaleBlue90]

maybe the ground was moved or fell off. i had a ground do that on my 89 when i bought it. i moved it behind the taillight and covered it with dieeltric goo. im shure someone can give u a idea on were to look

 

[cocoasranger]

maybe the ground was moved or fell off. i had a ground do that on my 89 when i bought it. i moved it behind the taillight and covered it with dieeltric goo. im shure someone can give u a idea on were to look

I have an 89 Ranger with a bad fuel guage also. Where was this ground originally before you moved it? Thanks.

 

[Totalled]

99% chance the sender is just bad.

 

[MAKG]

99% chance the sender is just bad.

I wouldn't say it's quite THAT high, but yes, it's likely.

There simply must be an electrical connector for it on top of the tank. You may need to remove the driveshaft and/or skidplate for access.

An alternative is to test the resistance at the instrument cluster connectors, but if it isn't normal, you have to do it at the tank, too, to rule out a wiring issue.

Are your other gauges F'd as well? Especially, erroneously hot temperature readings? That points to a problem in instrument voltage regulation, and it's fairly common. The Haynes book gives a nice test for the temperature gauge using resistors in place of the sender, and it's VERY accessible (much easier to test than the fuel sender).

 

[JohnPi]

I've got a '93 with a non-working gas gauge, and I know for a fact that it's because the float is missing. If I articulate the sender by hand, the gas gauge goes up and down.

So, there are a few issues that it could be; not necessarily a cut and dry problem and solution.

 

[alaskan155]

does it read empty or full,

usually when it reads empty the float sank(which my 89 does), so may just need to replace the float, if it reads full, its usually the sender, or electral between sender, and/or gauge.


this is assuming the guage is getting 12 volts and grounded properly though

 

[talleman]

The other gauges work fine. The fuel gauge reads empty all the time as opposed to full.
Sounds like I should just plan to pull the tank and check the float and sender on the bench.