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Old 25-03-2013, 01:56 PM   #1
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Fuel Gauge Wiring

Hi All,

I wonder if someone could help;

Fitted all new dials into my boat, all working fine except the fuel gauge - the wires were labelled, removed, and connected to the new units, but the fuel gauge does nothing.

Is there any sort of calibration required?

Maybe someone can confirm which wires should be connected to the gauge just incase I have missed one!

The gauges removed were just standard Mercruiser jobbies, and have been swapped with Autometer jobbies.

Keen to get this sorted so I can have a good clean up and get the boat back in the water soon-ish!

Thanks in advance,

Andy
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Old 25-03-2013, 02:00 PM   #2
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3 wires needed to make it work, Switched live (purple) Negative (black) and signal from the sender. that's normally a pink wire, but it could be any colour.
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Old 25-03-2013, 02:47 PM   #3
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You sure the new gauge is calibrated the same as old one? they are normally matched to the senders as they work on resistances. It could be that the sender is the wrong range for the gauge. I'd check with the gauge supplier
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Old 25-03-2013, 04:11 PM   #4
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If it was the wrong resistance, it'd still work, but incorrectly. If you've gone from mercury to autometer gauges, then the sender should be fine.
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Old 25-03-2013, 04:18 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marinautic View Post
3 wires needed to make it work, Switched live (purple) Negative (black) and signal from the sender. that's normally a pink wire, but it could be any colour.
Thanks for the info - I'll check this evening and report back!
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Old 25-03-2013, 06:46 PM   #6
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Have you tried a hammer? I've a fine collection of large hammers you can try. I've also got a couple of large flat(ish) head screw drivers you may wish to use in conjunction with the aforementioned hammers.
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Old 25-03-2013, 07:02 PM   #7
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Have you tried a hammer? I've a fine collection of large hammers you can try. I've also got a couple of large flat(ish) head screw drivers you may wish to use in conjunction with the aforementioned hammers.
Those hammers would be a great help, don't worry about the screw drivers though - I've got plenty of chisels which are essentially the same thing just for more extreme people innit.
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Old 25-03-2013, 07:10 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marinautic View Post
3 wires needed to make it work, Switched live (purple) Negative (black) and signal from the sender. that's normally a pink wire, but it could be any colour.
Had another look, I have;

1 purple wire (connected to the 12v terminal of the dial)
1 pink wire (connected to sender terminal of the dial)
1 pink & black wire (connected to the ground terminal of the dial)

The gauge does not flicker or move when the ignition is turned on.

I've tried bridging the earth & 12v to another (working) dial which made no difference, also switched the pink wire with the pink/black wire... still nothing!

I do wonder if it is just that the fuel tank is empty, but all the other gauges flick up to zero when you turn the ignition on.

Any further thoughts?

Thanks again for the help so far!

Andy
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Old 25-03-2013, 07:45 PM   #9
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Disconnect two pinks.
Put a ground and ignition on the dial and quickly short across sender and ground terminals with ignition on.

Short circuit = no resistance = full
Open circuit = full resistance = empty
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Old 25-03-2013, 07:50 PM   #10
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Just read that again.

You should have four wires to the gauge. Ground terminal should have black and also the pink and black.

All the two pinks do is carry a resistance varied by the sender.
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Old 25-03-2013, 09:31 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motorvator View Post
Just read that again.

You should have four wires to the gauge. Ground terminal should have black and also the pink and black.

All the two pinks do is carry a resistance varied by the sender.
We have a winner!

Massive thanks Motorvator, the gauge is now in action and reading a smidge over empty...

Now the fun task of tidying up all the wires....

Thanks again for everyones input

Andy
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