Ranger Gauge Problems

[raise the motor]

I need help with two gauge problems on my Ranger Cherokee (115hp Johnson 2S).

The first is a gas gauge that always reads full. It returns to zero when the engine is off, but shows full the rest of the time. Does the gauge use some type of float device that may be stuck? How can I correct the problem.

The second is with the tacometer. At idle or slow forward the gauge will read correctuly up to around 1,000 RPM. As the RPM surpasses that level the gauge goes back to zero. It does work randomly, but not consistently through any day. What might cause this result?

Help is appreciated since I do not have an owners manual with detail to answer these questions.

[fishinwrench]

I'm gonna address the tach issue first because this is possibly a worse problem than it seems. The tach gets its signal from the voltage rectifier/regulator, and bad voltage rect/regs on J/E V4-V6's are notorious for going up in flames and roasting 1000.00 worth of electrical components and wiring. Get that puppy checked out pronto !

If the tach wasnt working at all then it would possibly be just a bad tach....but a tach that does crazy $#!t is usually a smoked rect/reg. If you have a voltmeter on the dash also you'd probably notice the voltage spiking or dropping when the tach starts fluctuating.

The fuel gauge issue sounds like either a bad sender, or a sender wire that is shorted to ground.... no biggie there.

[raise the motor]

Thanks Fisinwrench.

I have a voltmeter and will check it at time of tach failure. Thanks for the warning I will get the volt/regs checked.

Where is the fuel sending unit located. There is a carpet covered rectangular pannel in the floor above where the gas tank should be. I assume that is for tank access and may be how I get to the sending unit.

[Flippin]

RTM

on that particular model not sure where your access is but yes you should have access to the tank. The tank will have a metal cap that screws down to the top of the tank. The cap have a wire that attatchs to it. When you take the cap off, the sender (float) is attatched to the bottom of the cap. It may just be stuck up in the up (full) position.

[raise the motor]

Thanks Flippin

I will remove the pannel and check the float.