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Fuel guage problems

3

37chief

Well-known Member
Location
California
I had my JD 401 on my trailer after a mowing job. I kept the motor running to cool down. The engine started to speed up, which it never did. I shut it right down. It was running out of fuel. Two minutes sooner I was down in a deep canyon, it would have been a real pain to get fuel to it.I added some fuel and it started, after some cranking. If my fuel guage was working it would be better than my broom handle. The guage just pegs when the key is on. What could be the problem? Stan
 
Most fuel gauges (Not familiar with that one)operate with the sending unit as a ground through a variable resistor. Unhook the sending unit at the tank if it now reads no fuel, it is the sending unit if it still pegs the needle, there is likely a short to ground in the wire between the gauge and the tank. Jim
 
While they have a few ways of wiring fuel gauges most work to where the sending unit gives a ground to the gauge. If you turn the key on and the gauge goes from empty to full and stays there it is getting a full ground.

Take the wire off the sending unit and see if it still pegs to full.
If so the wire has a short to ground.
If it stays on empty now the sending unit is shorted out.

If your sending unit is bad you will need to get one that is ohm matched to your gauge.
 
Without knowing which way your gauge is designed to operate you need to add one more step. That is to ground the wire after you remove it from the sender and see it that makes the needle move.

If your gauge is designed to read full with high resistance and empty with low resistance an open sender or break in the wire will cause the gauge to read full whether or not the wire is connected to the sender. By removing the wire from the sender and then shorting it to ground should cause the gauge to go from one extreme to the other. If it does the problem is in the sender. If there is no change the problem is the wire or the gauge.
 
Some fuel gauges peg when the sender or the wire to it "OPEN". Some DEERE'S and 1980-ish Chevy pickups, for example.
 
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