'78 CJ 5 Fuel Gauge 2nd try

[Turbogus]

Greetings All for Oregon, where Lewis and Clark discovered 'Seasonal Affective Disorder'.
Back in '05 I replaced my fuel sender, and fuel/temp gauges in Black Betty. All was fine but over the past couple years the gauge has been showing empty with 4 gallons of fuel in the tank. Mosty recently five months ago I went with a mechanical temp gauge, bypassing the temp sender so to use the port for my electric radiator fan. Also I loomed and used hold fasts to keep the dash wiring away from the parking brake pedal. With no initial signs of stretching wires.
Two days ago after fueling up and parking her overnight, the gauge is pegged on empty.
Mindful of the oxidation issues we face in Oregon I pulled the sender wire from the back of the gauge and pressed it on again ~ I briefly got a gauge reading then the needle sank back to empty. I can reproduce this result with the same method and I suspect it's something simple :roll: but as I've recently given up on coffee, I may be slippin'
Thanks and a lift of the lynch lid for any responses.

 

[abe]

hell my 97 tj does the same thing but i think it was caused by the huge dent in the skid plate when i dropped off a rock. thank God it didnt puncture the tank, i was way in the middle of B F E.

 

[SteelHeadz]

I would say a corroded or loose connection is the cause. Either clean or replace the terminal then re-test would be the corrective action i would take.

 

[Turbogus]

Likely so Steel, since I'm going to have to pull the speedo for diagnosis and cleaning up the gauge terminals, I'll follow the DARS chart and see where it leads. I looked it over yesterday but it doesn't cover the anomoly of removing the slip on connector then snapping it back in place gives a reading~for a moment. Will post what I find once I get at it.
Thanks and a lift of the lynch lid
Gus

 

[Turbogus]

DARS completed and it turns out to be these "made in lower slovobia" guages I purchased on EBay three years ago. Going to have to go to Stewart Warner 835879/Mopar 4740791 guages hoping they'll last longer than three years.
Does ayone have a resource for these? Best price so far is 176 bones for the fuel and temp. set.

 

[Turbogus]

Well checked contacts and ground and everything had 0.0 continuity, so went to venerable Mac's Jeeparts here in Oregon and got a standard Omix gauge and it's working fine, for MUCH cheaper than online for this same gauge. From the description of the gradual failure of the other replacement gauge, Mac figures the internal resistor failed. All is well for the time being though.