gas gauge wireing

My gas gauge dosnt work and looking under the dash I see only one wire hooked up. I guess  One wire comes from the gas tank to the gauge ,but where does the one Im missing go to, ground or power. If it goes to power does it get the full 12 volts ? Thanks.

Our guages are 6 volt. on the back of the guage panel there is a box that takes the 12 volts and reduces it down to 6 volt. make sure this is working or you may damage your  gauges. You wouldn't be the first person to need new guages...here's a pic. Not sure about the wireing as I still have all that to go through as well. But I do no they are 6 volt.

I have no gauges working in the gauge panel except the speedo (and its off by 10 mph). The truck was rewired with oil, temp and volt gauges under the dash. None of the wireing is original but the truck has been rewired and everything works except the gas gauge. Is there a way to hook up just the gas gauge from power to the 12 v to 6 v adapter then to the gauge. ?

Ok, I see your picture now. I guess the wire shown should go to power then the wire not shown in the picture would go to my gas gauge, that sound right ? Thanks.

I'm pretty sure this can be done. The sending unit in the tank is grounded by the tank, so make sure tank is well grounded. Run a fresh wire from tank to frame. The wire from the sending unit goes to the gauge, which terminal I am not sure. Then the 6 volt power comes from that 12v/6v regulator or reducer or what ever it's called goes to the other terminal on the gas gauge. If all wires are hooked correctly and your gauge panel is also well grounded to the dash, it should work. If not then either the gauge is shot or the sending unit isn't working or both. I'm sure others with better knowledge and wiring diagrams will chime in.

Thanks for the info, its going to be back up into the 60's and sunny tomorrow so I'm going to check it out.

Glad I could help. My wiring is a birds nest right now and I will be doing the gas gauge next summer. Hope it works out for you.

I just worked on my buddies  Ford dash,,,,,,,,,12 volts goes to the Instrument Cluster Voltage Regulator and it puts out 6 volts to the coolant and gas gauges,,,,,,,the terminals on it were  male and  female spade terminals so you could not mess up the wires,,,,,that thing cost him $65 at Napa,,,,,,,make sure you got that dash grounded with a jumper wire if you got it out and turn on the key,,,,,,,,one test would be to unplug the wire that goes on the fuel sender on the tank,,,,,,hook a 12 volt test light to ground, turn on the key and see if the test light blinks,,,,,,,,,,if it does,,,,,,,,see if your gauge reads Empty and Full as you ground that wire and then leave it disconnected,,,,,,,,

Update, I hooked 2 aa batteries togather with clips and hooked them to the gas gauge . It went to 3/4 full so I guess the gauge is working. I hooked the 12v to 6 v regulator to power and hooked a test light to the other side. When key is turned on the test light turns on then goes off within a second or two. Same thing with a volt meter. 12 volts then nothing. I guess this means the regulator is bad? Since I don't know which post is in or out would reversing the wires make any difference ? Looking at the dash from the seat I have the power going to the right side of the regulator. Anyone have the part number for a new regulator ? Thanks Again.

Yea, 70 bucks to just get the gas gauge working is a lot. Whoever rewired my truck put the new fuse boxes right in front of the regulator. Don't really want to pull the dash apart to see if there are + - marks on the regulator as I was just going to mount the new one somewhere easier to get to.

,,,,you might just want to add a hot rod fuel gauge to fit in with those other gauges,,,,,,

Is this the same thing ?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-to-6-volts-Voltage-regulator-for-vintage-cars-/321268088603?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_210&hash=item4acd11ff1b&vxp=mtr

Its never been hooked up since I got the truck. I don't know why they didn't try to get it to work since they rewired and got everything else working.

Hey Chainsaw,
The Governor said you were wantin' to get your gas gauge working. Looked like you did a test of the gauge, it works, so I see it is very possible that you can get the thing to work.

Here is a thread I wrote on how to diagnose the Ford fuel gauge in the Econoline using basic tools. There are four basic tests, check it out. Also, you are right the ground for the gauges is through all the body metal, so you need to clean up the contact between battery to engine, then engine to body, then body to gas tank, and finally the signal wire from the sender unit in the tank, to the gauge.

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t14006-fuel-gauge-sender-diagnostics

You are doing your Econo a good service checking the grounds after all these years anyways, as the voltage regulator (which pulses 12v to create an average of 5v,) and most all of the electrical system depends on a solid grounding, another example being the steering column and turn signal circuit.

Once you go carefully go through the sequence in the given link, tell us your results. We can go from there and come up with some action plans.

George

My plan would be to get one from RockAuto P/N 1V1006. There $46.00 and use the Discount Code 291031322016 and get it a little cheaper. Hope this helps.

OG

The newer repro regulators are better built than the originals and from what I have seen they are all the same with different prices: carpenter, macs,rock auto, amazon, eBay, etc... I put a solid state regulator in mine for about $30 and it works great. I have the full set of gauges On mine, no issues. If you're good with electronics you can build a regulator for about $4with parts from digikey. The gauges aren't that fussy, if they put up with that pulsing for 50 years they will be more than happy with what we have today.

Probably more than you'll ever want to know about these:

http://www.rainierfalcons.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13601&highlight=regulator+5v#post13601

Thanks for the help and links guys. The gauge problem is on hold for awhile until the freeze goes away. Its 25 degrees outside and I don't have a heater in the garage, 30 years ago I could have handled it. Not so much now. Updates when it warms up.

After years of hording parts I have a box of them and can send you one for the cost of the USPS envelope,,, LOL,,,, The posts on the regulator are designed so you can only put the pigtail and the incoming wire on one way, they already thought of that,, LOL..... BE CAREFUL when testing the gauge, you can fry it if you over do it.  If you would like a regulator, send me your info and I will get one out to you on Monday. This is one of my custom gauge panels but it shows the regulator on the bottom of it.
vic

vlafountaine@socal.rr.com