Fuel guage angst

[cocoasranger]

So I got in my Ranger today and the fuel gauge is at E. It has always worked, and after filling up last week it went slowly down towards the 3/4 mark as usual and was registering there when there I parked it yesterday. Now I turn the key and nothing. Just topped it up to confirm no one siphoned the gas; gauge did not move with 5 gallons added to top it up.

It dropped well below freezing for the first time last night. Could that cause it to punk out? Any ideas how to start checking it out?

 

[martin]

There's an issue with floats sinking on these trucks. To test the sender, unplug the four pin connecter at the tank and test the resistance on the sender. if it seems normal rock the truck and the resistance should change slightly as the fuel sloshes around. If the resistance is within the normal range but does not change when you rock the truck, the float has probably sunk. If the sender reads open the sender has a problem.
To test the front part of the circuit you will need either a resistor substitution box or a few resistors, a 33 and a 47 ohm should do. connect a resistor from the wire that comes from the gauge to ground and see what the deflection is on the gauge. different resistor values should give you different readings on the gauge.