Fuel Gauge No Worky, But Baffle Seems Ok.... What Now?

[randomguy]

So I've got a '94 SPX. The fuel gauge seems to work OK when you're up to speed, but not very well at idle. Of course this is intermittent, though.

I had it in the garage tonight to look at something else, so I pulled the baffle. I've read all the other threads about magnets coming out of the float, and the infamous fuse on the baffle PCB that needs to be bridged.

Anyway, I pulled it out and Fluked it. It came out pretty well, looked good and mechanically in tact. The float moved very freely and the resistance seemed pretty OK, moving from about 1ohm at full to around 90 at empty. Both magnets were present in the float and seemed good and secure.

I put it all back together and will get it back in the lake in the next couple days. Other suggestions or failure modes for this system? At this point, I'm hoping for the "take it apart and put it back together and everything works" victory. Thanks!

 

[Dr Honda]

well... then you missed the thread about the old style foats sinking.


If you have a float that looks like construction foam... that may be your issue. OR... if it's more of an "On-off" kind of intermittent problem, then the gauge could be going bad.

 

[Bills86e]

If gauge lokks a little flaky, that is corrosion.

 

[randomguy]

Yes it's very much an intermittent issue. I did read a thread or two about the floats sinking, but mostly what happens is that the gauge has no reading at idle, and *usually* works when running at a good speed. I had a hard time picturing a float that was sunk to the bottom of the tube raising up because of motion.

So I think I'm going to put in a new used gauge first. Most of the used ones I'm seeing don't look like they have the foamy/gaskety shroud that goes around the gauge. Anyone got one of these laying around or a part number?

What's this piece even called? It's not really a gasket.... Would "sleeve" be the right jargain?