Dash cluster issues

[Blazin]

Put two new sending units in and they worked for a couple weeks. No one goes to way past full again, The other reads accurate but only with the headlight switch on. Turn it off and it goes way past full as well? Any ideas??

[Irish_Alley]

I'm shocked at you being stumped. usually you help out everyone now what your stumped what you want us to do lol  .  have you tried to switch out the whole cluster panel? what about your ohm reading at the gauge and the male wire harness to the cluster?

[frogman68]

Bad ground ? Is the sender bad or just reading bad ?
I am with Irish if your stumped my suggestions more than likely have been tried

[Blazin]

Electrical is my weak area. Both senders are brand new about two months ago. Just noticed the problem a few days ago. I haven't really dug into it yet, just looking for ideas!

[zieg85]

Way past full is usually a bad ground.  When I first got my truck I had to get a replacement cluster as the circuit board on back was shorted causing issues with the gas gauge when the lights were on.

[joesgarage71]

Make sure your ground to the frame is making good contact, Then go up in the cab if you still have a problem.

[Irish_Alley]

Way past full is usually a bad ground.  When I first got my truck I had to get a replacement cluster as the circuit board on back was shorted causing issues with the gas gauge when the lights were on.

i was thinking that but if it was a bad ground then i would think with the lights on it would make it worse not fix the problem.
IDEAL just drive with your lights on and  problem solved.

[dirtmod0]

I am having a similar problem but just the opp. my fuel gauge works fine with light off and then goes to past empty when lights on?? this happened just all a sudden

[VileZambonie]

Check your ground connections and harness connections first. Look at your wiring diagrams for specific ground and splice locations.

[zieg85]

I am having a similar problem but just the opp. my fuel gauge works fine with light off and then goes to past empty when lights on?? this happened just all a sudden

A new board on back will fix your problem, that is what mine did.  Use your dash light dimmer, the lower the light intensity the gas gauge comes back to reality.  All the way off is just like lights off.  My $.02

[dirtmod0]

thanks, im gonna take the cluster out tomorrow after work and look at it then.

[zieg85]

thanks, im gonna take the cluster out tomorrow after work and look at it then.

I couldn't "see" anything wrong with mine after I took it out but I plugged the new one in and turned the lights on and the gas gauge worked as it should.  I then put all my gauges back in the cluster and cleaned everything all up and replaced the bad bulbs.  Good as new, actually while doing a Google search I ran across this forum.

[Marc]

Polishing up the contacts on the mylar film on the back of the dash and the connector with a pink grit eraser solved my erratic working lights and speedometer.  Usually when things go wacky it is a ground.  Is there a ground wire from the sending unit to the frame to give the sending unit a good ground?

[Captkaos]

Is there a ground wire from the sending unit to the frame to give the sending unit a good ground?

If this is a question you are asking the answer is yes