It was working... then it stopped.

We checked the obvious, fuses, did a ground check with the pink wire and it did not move, so now we are thinking that the guage itself is bad.

Did I miss something else, what options do I have?

Afraid to go past the next gas station for fear I will run out

Did you check the temp gauge sending wire to see if you have a flashing power supply. It and the gas gauge work through a voltage limiter on the back of the instrument cluster. If you don't have the blinking power to either one then I would suspect the limiter has gone bad.

OK, not sure what that means.... BUT, my temperature guage does work still.

Could it be the gas tank sending unit grounding issue? I've read about issues of the gauge not working and it seems the grounding strap on the pickup issue comes up.

I haven't had to deal with that yet, but that's one thing I'll be sure to look at when I finally get my car together.

All the replies so far assume that you are talking about a muscle-era Mopar.
It would help if you told us the YMM you are working on.

Its either your gauge (least likely), or the sending unit, the ground or the electrical connection to your sending unit, or the float on the sending unit.

I'd put my money on one of the last two.

Dale

If it IS a muscle-era vehicle....

Yes, the sending-unit needs to be grounded at the tank and oftentimes the ground-strap becomes corroded, rusts away or drops off completely.

The Coolant and Fuel gauges work off the same current connection, so when both fail, this indicates a problem in that area.

The sending-unit (once the tube-ground connection is verified) you can check the resistance produced by the sender. There is an acceptable range for sending-unit resistance.

Sometimes, the Sending-Unit Float in the tank is compromised, and no longer "Floats." Other times it is the rheostat-like portion of the sending-unit, or wiring between sender and gauge.

If you have access to the Factory Service Manual, there is a Troubleshooting procedure to go through step-by-step diagnosis.

It is a 1973 Dodge Dart Sport.

It has the factory dash in it, and it did work.

The alternator guage is static, it is in the middle at all times, on and off ( maybe that helps)

The temp guage does work, then nothing for the fuel guage

I have a/m guages for volt (that is all over the place), temp ( it works also) and lastly oil pressure (that is mechanical anyways)

Hope this sheds more light.

Bryan

It could be the Instrument Panel Voltage Reducer. Check this from Moparts Tech archive:

Moparts Tech Archive Inst Panel Reducer

This "may" be the problem, but really the best way to approach this is with the Factory IP Diagnostic Procedure, as it leads you step-by-step to track the problem down.

From what you have described, it is either a global problem (like the IP voltage-reducer, bad grounding, etc) or multiple issues (several gauge and/or sensor failures.)

If the temp gauge works it's not a voltage limiter problem. Check the sending unit wire at the tank for a pulsating power supply. If your test light blinks then you have either a bad sending unit or the sender isn't grounded right.

Remove the wire going to the sender and ground it.
If the fuel gauge goes to full it is a sender problem.

Here is a pic of a 70 Coronet dash but the look is pretty close. The first two studs below the rf filter are the alternator, two studs with nuts to the left is the fuel gauge. The voltage limiter is above it. The stud on the right goes to the voltage limited, That voltage is shared by the temp gauge. If you check voltage to that stud it should pulsate and go to 5v or so. The stud on the left goes to the sending unit. You can check continuity from that stud to the sending unit wire. Or check voltage the same way. You can ground at the stud or at the sending unit and the gauge should move if you confirmed voltage.

There is a clip on ground at the sending unit that jumps to the fuel line. Check those ground connections. If you confirm voltage at the gauge and then ground it and the gauge doesnt move it is the gauge. if not more than likely the sending unit. If it is the sending unit pull it out and check it firs..it may not be electrical. It could be a bad float. You can buy the floats for around 5 bucks at a Ford dealer.

Hope this helps