gas gauge not working

[grozam]

I've been looking at a lot of CJ jeeps in the last year and notice tons of them selling with gas gauges not working. What seems to be the problem with the gas gauges on these CJ's. I was shocked at the amount of them with gas gauges not working.

 

[Rollie]

I've been looking at a lot of CJ jeeps in the last year and notice tons of them selling with gas gauges not working. What seems to be the problem with the gas gauges on these CJ's. I was shocked at the amount of them with gas gauges not working.

Mine doesn't work.

 

[sheddiggs]

Bad ground owner, (me) too lazy to drop tank.

 

[grozam]

Bad ground owner, (me) too lazy to drop tank.

I've heard that without a ground, a sending unit can burn up in about 2 seconds.

 

[Torxhead]

For you guys that don't already know, the guru for Jeep CJ gauges is John Strenk:

Basic Troubleshooting for CJ gauges

The new Gauge Page

 

[rr41mag]

I went with an aftermarket gauge from Orielly. If you go this route don't get the gauge for amc, it's not the right ohms. You have to get the ford gauge I think

 

[grozam]

I went with an aftermarket gauge from Orielly. If you go this route don't get the gauge for amc, it's not the right ohms. You have to get the ford gauge I think

You need a gauge with 10 to 73 ohm range.

 

[ZaCJ7]

Just guessing, but it may be a combination of a poorly design sending unit plus the fact that Jeeps tend to see their fair share of mud, dirt, water, elements, etc. My sending unit went bad about 10 years ago. Replaced it with whatever unit was available from O'Reilly's at the time and never had a problem since.

 

[Torxhead]

Za CJ7 , just what brand of gauge is that? I have seen them carry a few different brands of gauges.

 

[ZaCJ7]

Za CJ7 , just what brand of gauge is that? I have seen them carry a few different brands of gauges.

I wish I could tell you the brand my friend, but I honestly have no collection as it's been years ago -- 2002ish?. I know I wouldn't have had the wherewithal at the time to know what I was doing beyond going in and saying "Y'all got another one of these things?" So it's just whatever they handed me.

Before you pull down the tank and yank out the sending unit: Have you done your gremlin chasing yet up front? Make sure you don't have a bad ground on the gauge, blown fuse, etc. The link that Torxhead posted looks like some pretty thorough troubleshooting.

I don't recall if you can access/see the ground wire for the sending unit above the fuel tank, but you might crawl under there and check. If you can see it, look to see if the ground wire isn't just crack and giving you bad metal on metal contact.

BTW: if it comes down to it, here's some sending units available at RockAuto. They usually have the best prices around.

 

[grozam]

I went to the John strenk site and he says the test light should be flashing but mine doesn't flash . It does light the tester though.So it's getting power and the ground is good. He doesn't say what that means when the light lights up but doesn't flash.

 

[1984 CJ7]

I put a new one in and when I just recently filled it up, it will not go past half tank. Ah... frustrating. So, i guess I got to take it appart and see if the float became stuck or whatever...

 

[grozam]

I put a new one in and when I just recently filled it up, it will not go past half tank. Ah... frustrating. So, i guess I got to take it appart and see if the float became stuck or whatever...

If you think it is stuck, try shakeing the jeep around. Might just free it.

 

[1984 CJ7]

ha! good idea. Maybe I will get the wife in the back of the Jeep and see if that helps

 

[mtnwhlr]

I'm sure it will shake something loose

 

[1984 CJ7]

True! Who am I kidding... the only way that would ever happen is if I tossed some "People Magazines" in the back as bait. Then I could pounce..

 

[thiswontbetooexpensive]

True! Who am I kidding... the only way that would ever happen is if I tossed some "People Magazines" in the back as bait. Then I could pounce..

Hahahahaha! You could always say that the secret to Facebook is under the back seat. That would get every teenager in the neighborhood to shake the Jeep!

Not too loud though, you will have my wife and her friends over there too...


This won't be too expensive Dear! That's what I keep saying. Over and over again.

 

[grozam]

Seems that looseing ground and burn-up of the sending unit is a major problem with the cjs. I have power to both gauge and sender with good ground and mine doesn't seem to work. My test light lights up but does not blink when put on sender and gauge.