Yesterday I was driving my 49 Dodge truck that has the complete, unmodified 96 Dakota chassis, wiring, and fuel system in it. The donor truck only had 44,000 miles, but the odometer now shows 66,000 miles.
Consider this a 96 Dakota.
The pump and gauge sending unit was replaced when the truck was assembled in 2022. its been working great until yesterday. The gauge was reading just over 1/2 full while I was driving around. I stopped and shut the truck off for about 15 minutes, and after the restart (and several more since) the gauge now reads empty. By the mileage its been getting and the miles on this tank of gas, a 1/2 tank would be pretty close, the tank is definitely not empty. The other gauges are all reading OK, so its not a fuse. As best as I can tell, the wires on the tank sending unit feel like the connection is still good. Getting to that fuel pump on this truck is a pain.
Actually removing the instrument cluster is easier, so it is out of the dash right now (I was hoping the plug on the instrument cluster was disconnected, but it was not).
With the cluster out, can I check the gauge itself? (I would need to know which wires on which plug). Should just need continuity across the wires to the gauge, and it would be a good or not good correct? OR I could power up the + wire and ground the sending unit wire for the gauge to read full, correct?
Can I check if the sending unit in the tank is functioning from the instrument cluster plug? My mind is telling me I can do that, but it is blank on the procedure, CRS is kicking in. I do have a multi meter.
