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fuel gauge needle is bouncing


bluefoxamazone

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I asked this question in a previous posting but I think I might get better answers in a new topic.

so,

has someone ever found a solution to dampen the reading of the fuel gauge. The needle reacts "nervous" when driving trough a hole in the road or taking a turn.

We have checked the grounding and added an extra wire.

We have adjusted the float so it accurately reads full and empty.

Is the float internally dampened or how does this work originally..,

any ideas on this? would a new sender be the solution?

Edited by bluefoxamazone
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Most likely you are seeing the float moving more because there are no baffles in the fuel tank. like modern vehicles. If the tank is full to the top does your gauge not bounce as much when you have bumps in the road?

On my truck my gauge hardly moves when full on a bumpy road, but at 2/3 full on the same road the needle swings alot more.

Assuming you have original gauge, sender and 6 volt system.

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Had a situation with mine where it would sporadically wing from full to empty and then back to accurate reading.  Got up under the dash and found the defroster duct hose has come adrift of the vent connection.  The stiffening wire was coming into contact with one of the terminals on the fuel gauge intermittently grounding and ungrounding it over bumps and around corners.

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the flickering   gauge is not unusual.    originally, the lubricant on the shaft which supports the needle was viscous and acted as a damper.

 

Gauges from 39 to 48 were actuated by heat rather than magnetism and the needles were very steady. Not so on 49 to 56.

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I had posted this earlier but by mistake put it in your older thread.....I just copied to here......

 

 

the electromagnetic style in your car depends on good clean grounds at the tank and at the gauge and also good clean tight connection on the wire from the gage to the sender and also that this wire not be chaffed and thus grounding out.  Further it relies on good clean positive contact on the resistor wiper.  The gauge has two circuits of which one is constantly pulled toward empty while the tank unit pull it toward full, the clean smooth swipe across the resistor is key to this constant pull circuit altered by the changing value of the resistor determinate by the wiper position.  Any dirt, light contact etc could cause for the loss of this circuit and make the constant ground circuit dominant.  To some degree without baffles you will see some slosh but it should not be a flickering of the needle....but a slow change albeit noticeable when say climbing a steep grade.   My  suggestion follow that of the book to clean all connection very well...you can made the resistor test from the book also to prove the wiper....star washers are key here..

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