Removing the ground wire won't help you. Pull the sending unit wire and with the key on observe the gauge.
So haven't been able to pull the sending wire yet, however I did check to see if I was getting power at the gauge so I pulled the gauge out and checked ohm readings. On my ohm reader I have option of 200, 2,000, 20k, 200k and 2000k.
I set it on 200 since its the lowest reading and I know the range is supposed to be between 0-90. When I check numbers in getting anywhere between 135-160. Not sure what that means but I'm getting some kind of power. I would get those ranges dependent on how I put the red and black pokers on the metal tabs.....?