RanchHand420 30 Posted February 24, 2020 Just a quick question about the fuel gauge and sending unit. Fuel gauge reads empty and pretty dim. I guessing it has somthing to do with the sending unit in the gas tank but before i rip everithing apart i thought you guys might have some trouble shooting advice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 24, 2020 It's been a long time since I messed with that and I need to do it on my own. Ohm test the sending unit would be a start, the ground going to the meter and the wiring from the sending unit to the meter. If the tank is full I would get a full reading from the sending unit and do the other testing before removing the fuel tank. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RanchHand420 30 Posted February 24, 2020 38 minutes ago, toodeep said: It's been a long time since I messed with that and I need to do it on my own. Ohm test the sending unit would be a start, the ground going to the meter and the wiring from the sending unit to the meter. If the tank is full I would get a full reading from the sending unit and do the other testing before removing the fuel tank. Ok got it. Im going to be posting a lot soon. this is just the start. Its going to be a big tear down. I might end up pulling the whole engine idk. Gotta rebuild top end, gotta take apart the stator side case to fix a broken bolt in the block, and i should probably check my clutch. Lol guess what? That darn welded shifter is going to get me again. To bad its not just tac welded.. they drilled a hole through the shifting rod and welded a pin in it. Im pretty sure im going to need to cut it off Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,791 Posted February 25, 2020 3 hours ago, RanchHand420 said: Just a quick question about the fuel gauge and sending unit. Fuel gauge reads empty and pretty dim. I guessing it has somthing to do with the sending unit in the gas tank but before i rip everithing apart i thought you guys might have some trouble shooting advice. dim gauge tells me your battery is weak. fuel gauge reading empty either means the tank is empty ?, or the sending unit is bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,984 Posted February 25, 2020 If you remove the right side cover you can pull that junk shifter shaft out after cutting the left side end off of it. Its easy to replace that shaft. If you need to put a timing chain in it you'll have that right side cover off anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 25, 2020 If the clutch is adjusted right it usually has enough pressure on the arm that the shaft can be removed and reinstalled without removing the right cover. You could probably get away with removing the shaft with the left cover and reinstall it if needed (the seal probably needs replaced anyway). I would make sure you find the parts before cutting it apart though. I probably have an extra but wasn't going to say anything before I looked. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RanchHand420 30 Posted February 25, 2020 3 hours ago, shadetree said: dim gauge tells me your battery is weak. fuel gauge reading empty either means the tank is empty ?, or the sending unit is bad. Brand New battery. I thought of the gas and did fill it. No change. Just a barely visable flicker on the one light way left. Im thinking sending unit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 25, 2020 @RanchHand420 you have a manual for it right? It's just sitting up on the menu bar if you don't. Take some ohm readings while it's full and if your using it don't again when its getting low on fuel. I have an old tank sitting outside my shop if you want some pics of what you might be messing with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RanchHand420 30 Posted February 25, 2020 1 hour ago, toodeep said: If the clutch is adjusted right it usually has enough pressure on the arm that the shaft can be removed and reinstalled without removing the right cover. You could probably get away with removing the shaft with the left cover and reinstall it if needed (the seal probably needs replaced anyway). I would make sure you find the parts before cutting it apart though. I probably have an extra but wasn't going to say anything before I looked. First ill get my spair bottem end and practice on that a little. All i sould need is a shift lever and the seal. I have the shaft and transmission ex.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RanchHand420 30 Posted February 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, toodeep said: @RanchHand420 you have a manual for it right? It's just sitting up on the menu bar if you don't. Take some ohm readings while it's full and if your using it don't again when its getting low on fuel. I have an old tank sitting outside my shop if you want some pics of what you might be messing with. Pics are always nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 25, 2020 Oh, your ahead of the game with some spare parts. Those are good to have around since most you can't get anymore. I'll get some pics tomorrow night of the sending unit and tank so you have an idea of what you might be getting into. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,984 Posted February 25, 2020 We got pics! Well, for the test procedures anyway... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,791 Posted February 25, 2020 3 hours ago, RanchHand420 said: Brand New battery. I thought of the gas and did fill it. No change. Just a barely visable flicker on the one light way left. Im thinking sending unit. I got far enough into hooking my electrical up for this '88 I am restoring. got the fuel gauge wired up, battery wired up, brand spanking new oem sending unit ( very rare to locate, and high dollar ! ), I turn the key on, got no led dashes on meter, hmmm. checked all my fuses, all good..hmmm. checked all my connections, all clean and tight, hmmm. then I thought, ok, tank is empty, I grabed my pick that has a hook on it, reached down inside the tank, grabbed the wire on the sending unit, turned key, lifted sending unit up, watched the fuel gauge, sure enough, the red dashes slowly went across, filled up the bars on meter. sooooo, bottom line : chances are, your sending unit is bad. BUT !!!!. it is fixable depending on how bad its corroded over ??. you will need to pull the tank in order to get the sending unit out of the tank. once the tank is out, remove the sending unit, you will notice on one side of the metal arm, it pivots ?, as it does this, it has very fine tin fingers that drag across the circuit board, this is what sends the signals to the fuel gauge. the part that drags, over time, works loose from the plastic housing, and not enough downward pressure to keep the tin fingers against the circuit board. the rod is held on with a small round clip, like a pressure clip, if you can tighten it down on the circuit board ?, this may fix your problem :-). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RanchHand420 30 Posted February 25, 2020 7 hours ago, shadetree said: I got far enough into hooking my electrical up for this '88 I am restoring. got the fuel gauge wired up, battery wired up, brand spanking new oem sending unit ( very rare to locate, and high dollar ! ), I turn the key on, got no led dashes on meter, hmmm. checked all my fuses, all good..hmmm. checked all my connections, all clean and tight, hmmm. then I thought, ok, tank is empty, I grabed my pick that has a hook on it, reached down inside the tank, grabbed the wire on the sending unit, turned key, lifted sending unit up, watched the fuel gauge, sure enough, the red dashes slowly went across, filled up the bars on meter. sooooo, bottom line : chances are, your sending unit is bad. BUT !!!!. it is fixable depending on how bad its corroded over ??. you will need to pull the tank in order to get the sending unit out of the tank. once the tank is out, remove the sending unit, you will notice on one side of the metal arm, it pivots ?, as it does this, it has very fine tin fingers that drag across the circuit board, this is what sends the signals to the fuel gauge. the part that drags, over time, works loose from the plastic housing, and not enough downward pressure to keep the tin fingers against the circuit board. the rod is held on with a small round clip, like a pressure clip, if you can tighten it down on the circuit board ?, this may fix your problem :-). Nice thats what im thinking is wrong after a little research. Im still going to probe around a little before i pull the tank. Thankfully the tank is very clean from what i can tell so hopefully i can get it functional. Ps is there a way to test the fuel gauge as well? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 3,984 Posted February 25, 2020 1 hour ago, RanchHand420 said: Ps is there a way to test the fuel gauge as well? Yeah, but it requires either a functional sending unit or some potentiometers to test it. So first step is testing the sending unit with an Ohms meter. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 25, 2020 Some pics of a sending unit. There is a reason this one was sitting outside my shop. Nothing to loose so I took it apart to show everything. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,791 Posted February 26, 2020 7 hours ago, toodeep said: Some pics of a sending unit. There is a reason this one was sitting outside my shop. Nothing to loose so I took it apart to show everything. yep, that's what they look like alright !!. that arm has small tin fingers that drag across those circuits as the fuel level goes up or down ?, this sends the signal to the fuel gauge. when the arm no longer makes contact to the circuit ?, your gauge stops working. most times is because that arm that pokes through the housing, that has that round pressure clip on it ( what a bad design ! ), does not keep it tight enough to the circuit board, which means it can not send the signal to the fuel gauge. this sending unit is NOT cheap if you do locate one on ebay ??. I had to replace the unit on this '88 trx350D I am restoring, very close to 300 bucks for a 60 dollar part back when it was around ?!. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 28, 2020 @RanchHand420 I did get that cover off for the throttle (just remembered the adjuster bolt/nut but I'll get that too) and grabbed the shift lever while I was there if you need that too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RanchHand420 30 Posted February 28, 2020 21 hours ago, toodeep said: @RanchHand420 I did get that cover off for the throttle (just remembered the adjuster bolt/nut but I'll get that too) and grabbed the shift lever while I was there if you need that too. Awesome. I forgot to ask if you had an extra set of rear break cable parts (spring,wingnut, and that little round thing). And i definitely will take the shift lever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,746 Posted February 28, 2020 I have some of those too, I'll grab them and the top adjuster on monday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
