in all the time i've owned my FB the gas gauge has never worked. i simply wrote it off as a problem with the sender and would eventually fix it by swapping the sender out of my SE.

today it came back to life and works perfectly. i had the drivers side storage bin out of the car and was throwing some stuff in there. is there wires for the sender in there? anyone know what colors they are if so? i'm looking at the haynes manual right now but not having much luck.

maybe my busted gauge wasnt the sender at all but a problem in the wiring!

 

The rear harness runs over the rear driverside fender, so presumably the sender wiring runs with it.

 

you can follow it from the hatch (it goes up from right beside the driver side rear wheel well and goes all the way down to the underneath of the driver seat if i remember correctly.

 

My gas gauge works when the tank is full, but then as it begins to tucker-out when I've driven about 80 miles or so. I have to reset my trip odometer to know when it's time to get gas: not so cool!

 

The terminals tend to corrode, and mine used to work intermittently. After cleaning the contacts when I had dropped the tank to change it, I've never had the problem since.

 

i dont think its corroded terminals, since then id think it would be more intermitted. the gas gauge hasnt worked in years so i'm pretty sure its the wiring...

gonna have to track down which wire goes where first.

having a gas gauge sure is helpful, though. lol. before i was constantly filling up my car and resetting the odometer since i had no clue how long it would go on a tank of gas.

 

does the gas light still work when the needle doesn't? the reason i ask is because i had a 79 NY'er and the needle did not work but the gas light did.

 

I'm not familiar with the gas light. Are you asking about a dash light indicator that shines when I'm low on fuel? My '81 doesn't have such. But, the needle does work when the tank is filled and then at random. Is there a float device or something mechanical in first gen fuel tanks that can get worn?

 

Yes, there is a rheostat, or whatever they are called and the wires inside the sender wear out and break. Depending on the damage one might get a partial range reading or none at all.

Mazdtrix has the senders for something like 125.