Hey guys, man it's been awhile since I've been back here!

I just have a quick question for you guys. My 55' Fairlane has a fuel gauge that always reads empty. I replaced the fuel tank and sending unit, turns out the old sender has long ago lost it's float and was rusted solid, the whole inside of the tank was rusty actually EEK. Replaced the tank and sender with new ones but that didn't fix the problem, the site also stated that the sender was a 10ohm unit. Did a circuit test on the wiring from the sender to the dash and there was a reading so I think the wiring is good, I'm guessing the gauge must just be bad right?

Interestingly enough while driving her 40 miles up the road for winter storage, we had the tank completely full, only then did I ever get the slight flicker of a reading, the gauge I think maybe went up a hair.

I'd take the gauge to a place to be looked at, but I can't find any locally. The gauge looks very simple inside so I'm wondering if there's any way I can test it myself and/or maybe fix it? If I wired a 6v battery to the it's terminals would that be a good way to test it to see if it makes a full reading?

One more interesting note. My blinkers stopped working after I removed the guage. Are they grounded through that circuit? I hope I didn't short anything out while working under there.

The sender grounds on the tank, so even if you have continuity between the sender and gauge you may not have ground, especially if your tank is painted/coated on the outside. Run a ground from one of the screws on the sender to the chassis and see if that fixes it.

I would check with the Ford parts suppliers for a gauge.  if they don't have anything, go to Williamson's Instruments.  They repair old gauges.  I have used them in the past and was always satisfied with their work.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Remove the wire from the sending unit and ground it to the chassis, turn the key on and it should go to full if the gauge is good. Did you check for power going to the gauge?

I'll definitely try that, along with the other suggestions. I forget exactly how the wire was tested. If I remember right, we placed a test-light on the connector at the sender-unit and turned the key on.

Check out Tbirdsbygil.com. Click on the link "Gils Garage" . You will see tons of articles and pics Gil has posted for repairing mid fifties tbirds and fords. Click on "electrical" then "fuel and temp gauge testing". Good luck. Mark

Mark, Alaska

55 57 Thunderbirds

Dang sounds like a pretty helpful place, will do!

Previously likely due to lack of continuity or a bad ground.. good luck


Paul