Terrible Tom <SilverEightynine@aol.com> wrote:
: The sending units basically are resistors, that vary voltage to the
: gauge depending on float position, thus giving a reading on the fuel
: level.
: But when it comes to the electronics of it, will a guage read properly -
: if you take a gauge and hook it up to various sending units. For
: example, lets assume that a chevy fuel tank with its stock chevy sending
: unit is wired into the gauge on a dodge instrument cluster. Will the
: dodge gauge read the fuel level in the chevy fuel tank correctly?
It depends. A fuel gauge is designed to work within a certain
ohm range. If your fuel sender is designed for the same range, then
yes, it will work with the gauge, regardless of the manufacturer.
For example, a 0-30 ohm gauge expects 0 ohms at empty, and 30 ohms
at full. If you try to use a 0-30 ohm gauge with a 0-90 ohm sender,
it will read accurately at empty, but once you fill the tank to
1/3 full, the gauge will read full, and as you continue to fill
the tank and the resistance rises to three times the amount the
gauge was designed for, who knows? The gauge may simply stay on
full or I suppose it is possible that some damage may occur. In
any case, it won't be accurate. Another caveat to be aware of
is that not all gauges treat the lower resistance as empty. For
example, many Mopars use a 73-10 ohm sender, which reads 73 ohms
at empty and 10 ohms when full.
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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