kiwipete Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Hi there peoples, I have looked through the site and could not find a specific answer to my issue. I have a Diesel RHD 1995 Nissan Terrano with the rounded dash. After many years of faithful service the "old girl" is starting to fall apart at the seams. My fuel gauge has frozen in place. I noticed it was sitting just below the 1/2 way mark the other day and kept an eye on it. It stayed there for two days and I thought this was strange. I unplugged the cable from the sender unit (there is a plug in my harness on the right rear chassis that seperates this cable, looked at the gauge and it was still in the same place. It does not move when the ignition is off either. I filled the diesel tank just in case I was getting low and the needle went to the full marl, all be it very slowly, now it is stuck on full. Now, I know there has been an issue with some of the older trucks with a faulty voltage regulator on the cluster panel, but I am unsure if mine has one or not as no other gauges are affected. I can find very limited info on this on the net either. Should it turn out to be a voltage regulator, does anyone know what model/type it is so I can get one before I start? This weekends job is to strip the cluster panel out and have a look at it, but I want to know if anyone knows of a check on the fuel gauge wiring I should do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 There was a recent thread where someone had a wonky fuel gauge and it led to a discussion about the sender output (where I suspect your issue is), 6-94 Ohms IIRC but double check that. I don't know if it is the same for a diesel, but I'm sure you can look that information up and that is the first place I would start. In 10 years of driving round dash 1995s with failing(ed) speedos and tachs, I never had an issue with the fuel gauge and don't recall a lot of posts it being a cluster problem. Let me find that thread... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/36078-fuel-gauge-problems/?hl=%2Bfuel+%2Bsender&do=findComment&comment=676111 (oops, 3-94 Ohms) The sender float might be gunked up as well. There should be a hatch in the back under the carpet to access all that so a physical inspection/removal may be in order asd well. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwipete Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Thanks, I will look into the sender unit, but as I stated in the top post I have already disconnected this and it made no diference to the gauge at all? It is a wierd situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I'm sorry, I missed that somehow. Is it hard for you to get a junkyard cluster to compare to? You might try removing your cluster, checking the brass screws, and removing/reinstalling the fuel gauge portion. A while back I had 2 1995 clusters, one with a failed tach and another with a failed speedo. I installed the good tach in the good speedo cluster and that went into my driver, reassembled the failed speedo cluster with the failed tach and reinstalled it in the parts truck. Next time I fired up the parts truck, the tach started working fine again after being dead for years. Not very scientific, but transplanting it brought it back to life. FrankenTach... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwipete Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Yep all good ideas and I will be doing as you have suggested this weekend. I am home alone this weekend............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwipete Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 It has been suggested to me that I try the following, just in case someone else is interested. disconnect the sender, turn the key on and check gauge position.ground the wires from the sender, check the gauge position.if it goes full one way or the other, your sender is @!*%, possibly a shot ground connection. if it doesn't the connection or gauge is @!*%. test the wiring, dismantle the dash. I will post up the results later tomorrow when I have a look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwipete Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 OK; I unplugged the sender and turned the key on, no change of the needle. With the key on I grounded the wires. One side was the low fuel warning lamp wire, the first time I have seen this come on. There are 3 wires, one for the low fuel warning, a ground and the other for the variable resistor on the sender unit. Grounding the other side made the gauge reach the full mark. I turned the key off with the wires open and the gauge went to empty. I am suspecting there is nothing wrong with either the sender or the gauge and am beginning to think it may have been an ailen/gremlin in the system I sprayed the connector I seperated with contact cleaner and some silicone to prevent future water ingress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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