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2003 SE instrument cluster fuel gauge bad


NOCOjay
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Hi all-

 

Appoliges if this has been asked already, I did a quick serach bt didnt find anything for the R50.

Had what I though to be a bad sending unit, replaced sending unit with oem part. Gauge still not working. resistnace at top of tank is good, and at the harness on the cluster. It appears that the gauge is bad in the cluster. I sent the cluster to module masters in idaho as I had good luck using them to rebuild audi abs sytems and they work on clusters. They told me that the gauge is fine. I recently had a mechanic re check the resistance and they agree that the gauge is bad.

 

Any one have any fixes for this?

Can I put a salvage cluster in there? The latest mechanic mentioned reprograming (a new one) do you have to reporgram a used cluster? Was thinking a could cut a hole in the dash and install an aftermarket one but the wife thinks thats too gehto even for me.

 

I've gotten really good at tracking the trip odo and I aways know my milage but I really want a working fuel gauge for long/ back country trips.

 

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Has anyone REALLY verified the gauge is bad by sourcing 5 volts to it with an inline variable resistor?

Or are they just assuming it's bad because the sender is working?

 

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What you are describing is a bit out of my abilities.



Myself and a shop checked the resistance in the harness at the cluster and it seems good. I shipped the cluster to moduel masters a company that works on these types of things and they said that on the bench the gauge worked fine.



This one really has me puzzled. Any more trouble shoting ideas. Where do you think the problem lies?




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Well, just because resistance is fine across the sender doesn't mean that the gauge is getting the 5 volts it needs to send THROUGH the fuel sender. To determine the resistance, voltage must be sourced and the return voltage measured.

 

Check at your cluster harness to see if the correct pin is getting 5 volts when the ignition is on.

 

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Right, understand what you are saying now.

Couple of other things I didnt mention:

 

The gauge is pegged at full and all other parts of the cluster seem to function fine.

 

Will try to check for power to the cluster this weekend. Thanks for your help.

 

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Yes, that's enough voltage.

 

If you are getting the voltage to the gauge and you have the correct amount of resistance at the sender, then the gauge itself must be the problem.

 

That is, if you measured the voltage at the connector correctly.

There is the 5 volt supply pin and there will be a ground pin. If you read voltage with your probes in both of those locations it's a good check. But if you just put your red probe in the connector and touched your black probe to a chassis ground then it's not foolproof...your problem could be a bad ground wire in that harness.

 

 

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