Retarded gas gauge

[Surrey]

Hey guys, the gauge in my 89 bronco II is all messed up.
I tried the search, but I can't find anything specific to older trucks, its all like late-90s+...
When I bought the truck, it was reading like 1/4 tank. Seemed to be fine enough. Stopped and put $20 in it, gas gauge moved up. Still seemed fine. Drove it around for the day, and once my gauge was down to like 1/8 tank, so I stop and put another $20 in. All the sudden, my gauge is up past full. I have since put another $20, another $50, and then filled it up (ended up being $33 after the $50 a few days earlier)

It seems that when my tank gets empty, the needle reads something like 3/4 tank of gas. (I dont really know where empty is, but there couldn't have been more than a few litres in it when I put the $50 in, and was reading like 3/4 tank)

What do you think it could be? It seems the main items that cause problems (from what I've read on posts, at least) is the sender, the float, or a problem with the gauge itself (bad connection or ground or something) but I dont know if these symptoms point to any one specific cause?

Thanks.
Matt

 

[7.5L_STX]

first i would check the ground. ive been through this 3 times, 1 out of the 3 it was the ground. the other 2 times it was the sending unit. the scale type deal that the float arm slides against gets worn out and stops reading correctly. it might work at the lower part of the guge because maybe the gas was always kept above that level, leaving the top section on the sending unit to be worn out.

thats just my experience anyways. if its not the ground i would just replace the sending unit. hope this helps!

 

[Surrey]

first i would check the ground. ive been through this 3 times, 1 out of the 3 it was the ground. the other 2 times it was the sending unit. the scale type deal that the float arm slides against gets worn out and stops reading correctly. it might work at the lower part of the guge because maybe the gas was always kept above that level, leaving the top section on the sending unit to be worn out.

thats just my experience anyways. if its not the ground i would just replace the sending unit. hope this helps!

I have an 88 B2 that Im currently stripping for parts. The sending unit and float and everything should be the same from 88 to 89 right? I planned to pull them from the old one, and just put 'em aside incase I need them in the future...

How hard is it to get to the wires to check the ground? I have a haynes manual, do you think that will be any help? (I Know they kinda suck balls... I have a Bentley manual for my VW Golf, it has more pages of wiring diagrams and shit then the haynes has pages, period... lol)

 

[7.5L_STX]

I have an 88 B2 that Im currently stripping for parts. The sending unit and float and everything should be the same from 88 to 89 right? I planned to pull them from the old one, and just put 'em aside incase I need them in the future...

How hard is it to get to the wires to check the ground? I have a haynes manual, do you think that will be any help? (I Know they kinda suck balls... I have a Bentley manual for my VW Golf, it has more pages of wiring diagrams and shit then the haynes has pages, period... lol)

same engine? if so i dont see why they would be different. as for the ground i always took off the harness on top of the fuel tank an first checked those out then if those were ok i followed the wires and made sure none of them were cracked/corroded. the time where it ended up being a bad ground, the wire casing cracked about halfway down the frame rail and was begining to corrode.

 

[Surrey]

same engine? if so i dont see why they would be different. as for the ground i always took off the harness on top of the fuel tank an first checked those out then if those were ok i followed the wires and made sure none of them were cracked/corroded. the time where it ended up being a bad ground, the wire casing cracked about halfway down the frame rail and was begining to corrode.

So its about time to cut an access panel then? The girl is not going to be happy about that one. lol

 

[7.5L_STX]

So its about time to cut an access panel then? The girl is not going to be happy about that one. lol

i did that with my first ranger, seems like a good idea at first but then your stuck with a hole in the bed. so i highly advise against it, youll be happier later.

just drop the tank. its only two bolts on the straps, then the filler neck, ven and wiring harness. its really easy, i can drop the tank in my f-150 (same exact setup) in about ten minutes. then when you throw it back together just use some new bolts with washers instead of the stock bolts and clip type thing they use stock. your biggest issue is going to be the rust on those two bolts, after that its easy as pie.

 

[Surrey]

i did that with my first ranger, seems like a good idea at first but then your stuck with a hole in the bed. so i highly advise against it, youll be happier later.

just drop the tank. its only two bolts on the straps, then the filler neck, ven and wiring harness. its really easy, i can drop the tank in my f-150 (same exact setup) in about ten minutes. then when you throw it back together just use some new bolts with washers instead of the stock bolts and clip type thing they use stock. your biggest issue is going to be the rust on those two bolts, after that its easy as pie.

its not a ranger, its a B2, so it would be a hole under the back seat...Right? Doing an access panel was on the to-do list, just wasn't that high yet (shit, Im not done tearing down the old truck)

And I plan to cut a bigger access panel out of the floor of my old truck that is being stripped so I can use it to cover the hole. I was thinking just tack the edges down with a bit of silicone, so I can cut the silicone to get it up in future if needed.

 

[7.5L_STX]

oh in that case go for it man! i didnt realize it was a B2 (even though i read the post lol) it should still be the same setup, just different location.

 

[88_Eddie]

ugghh, the gas gauge in my b2 also has down syndrome. it's on the list of shit to fix, but it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy down there. post up if you get it working.

 

[chad333]

ugghh, the gas gauge in my b2 also has down syndrome. it's on the list of shit to fix, but it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy down there. post up if you get it working.

Same with mine. It reads full, than 100 miles later empty. I ran the tank completely empty and got 450 miles. So for now I just fill it at 250-350. I'll fix it one day.