Pinto Car Club of America
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: uncleamin on August 26, 2006, 08:33:37 AM
Arrrgh! On my last pinto the gas gage only worked when I pushed really hard on the cluster...and mostly not even then. I now have a 79' that I was relieved to see that the gas gauge works on.......until this morning that is. I started it up and the needle never moved. About a mile down the road it jumped back up to where it was supposed to be then quit again i few miles later. So I guess its about to go out again. Any idea whats wrong? - Amin
It sounds as if you may possibly either have a float related problem, or an electrical one.
You could have a float that is being restricted in it's movement, like maybe it's rusty and can't move freely, or there could possibly even be something in the tank that is floating around, snagging the float.
I think that it's more likely that the connector in the dash for the gauge may be making a poor electrical connection, or maybe the connector at the tank isn't making a good electrical connection. OR any of the ground wires or connections involved in the circuit may have deteriorated electrically. I'd check the electricals first.
If the gauge was reading consistently high or low, but still eventually indicated down to near empty when appropriate, it would likely be the INSTRUMENT voltage regulator, if you car has one.