Gas Gauge not working on B2300.... Ideas???

[Shawn@BMS]

Just wondering if anyone (which im sure someone has) has had there Gas Gauge stop working and has fixed it? Iv owned the truck for a year and it has never worked. Its strange, the MPH works but the Odometer has stopped working recently. So now its a guessing game for gas fill ups. My truck is a 94 Mazda B2300. Let me know if you have any ideas. I think the gauge is going but id hate to buy another one and it not be fixed. Let me know what you guy think and thanks in advanced.

~Shawn

 

[Shawn@BMS]

No one.....?????
~Shawn

 

[locknar]

Its pretty rare to have the gauge go, I would drop the tank and check the sending unit. AFTER I have double checked that all of the fuses are still good.

 

[Shawn@BMS]

I was thinking the sending unit as well, but sense my odometer just stopped working it maybe the gauge. I guess i just need to have a look at it. If the Fuel Sending Unit was going bad would it truck not run?
~Shawn

 

[locknar]

the part that the odometer also stopped does seem odd, which is why I said to double check the fuses.
The part in the gas tank is a "fuel GAUGE sending unit" so it does not affect gas flow to the engine. The sending unit is just a big resistor with float on the end and as the gas goes down, the contact moves down the resistor creating a different voltage which the needle in the cab then shows as empty.
So the sending unit could be broken, there is a wire that connects to the gas gauge, it could be broken, or the gauge in the cab could be broken. Unfortunately at this point you are taking a guess which of three.
Odometers are usually just a mechanical gear.
You have owned the truck for a year, did it have really low mileage?

 

[Shawn@BMS]

Thanks for the good info. The truck had about 151K when it stopped (about 2 months ago). It was intermittent and just one day it completely stopped. I guess i need to take the gauge out and take a look at it. Im going to run a volt test to the sending unit and see if its getting power or sending info to the gauge. If so i guess its the gauge. As for the odometer, the MPH is working fine and because the odometer was going in and out it am to believe the gear in the gauge may be broken. I just need to get off my ass and fix it...

Thanks again Locknar.
~Shawn

 

[tylerb826]

i know this may sound weird but a buddy of mine has a 97 b2300 and the gas gauge never worked since he bought it 3 years ago goin on 4, one day i took the passenger side kick panel off to run new speaker wires to the door and suddenly it started working and hasnt stopped since, try messin with those connectors under that panel and see what happens. Maybe it was jus a stroke of luck with that but its worth a shot.

 

[auto117584]

i know this may sound weird but a buddy of mine has a 97 b2300 and the gas gauge never worked since he bought it 3 years ago goin on 4, one day i took the passenger side kick panel off to run new speaker wires to the door and suddenly it started working and hasnt stopped since, try messin with those connectors under that panel and see what happens. Maybe it was jus a stroke of luck with that but its worth a shot.

Is the passenger side kick panel located under the passenger door, maybe 2 or 3 inches tall?

 

[Jose]

Both my temp and fuel gauge went out a few months ago. I pulled out the instrument cluster to find that the harness behind it was partially unplugged. I've had it for about 6 months and I was dumb founded. I hooked it back up and it works. Sounds like you also have a bad connection.

 

[coalroller17]

Ever fix the problem? my 97 b2300 gas and rpm gauge have not worked since ive had the truck which is about 1 1/2 years now

 

[MastuhWaffles]

If you poke it enough, it might work. Well, at least that's what happened with my jeep. Lol!