Hello fellow forum users. I joined this site in hopes that a problem I am having can be resolved. I appreciate all feedback.

The gas gauge in my 92 civic does not work - the needle stays over F and is unresponsive whether I turn the vehicle on or off. I bought a circuit board and replaced it, hoping it would resolve the issue, because I believed that there was a short causing it to not function. Well, now I'm out $45.00 and still have the same problem. I've checked all my fuses numerous times, and they all seem to be in tact. The rest of my instrument cluster works just fine (just got a new speed sensor for the tachometer) so I know that it's not the cluster. I am just rather frustrated and am seeking any help whatsoever.

I should also add that the temperature does not work either. Both of these things worked before I replaced the speed sensor to fix my tachometer - so I'm hoping that this can be a simple fix instead of having to buy a new meter assy.

Thanks in advance.

 

Usually, it's the gauge itself or the sending unit. The gauge is controlled by a sending unit that's in the gas tank itself. You should be able to pull your back seat up or out to see it. There's a bolt just to the right between the seat back and the seat bottom, then the seat bottom will come up from the back. There should be a plug on the sending unit. (There's also a plug for the fuel pump. I don't recall which is which.) If you pull the plug, the gauge should drop to to empty.

Someone should be by soon to correct me if I'm wrong, though.

 

Right, that is the test. Unplug the sender, turn key on, gauge should go to empty. If it does, the sender is stuck on full, repair or replace. If it doesn't you should next unplug the cluster and check with an ohmmeter to see if the wire is shorted to ground (now that both ends are unplugged, it should be an open circuit to anything else). A short to ground will cause the gauge to go to full.

 

Are you driving this car for miles and miles and it is has yet to move, or are you just expecting the gauge to drop to E when you shut off the car, even after a fill up?

 

Let me be more specific :

Both my fuel and temperature gauge do NOT work. The gauges (fuel and temperature) worked before I replaced the speed sensor, so I know it shouldn't be the gauge. Like I said, I have already replaced the circuit board. I hope this information helps in diagnosing the problem.

 

Parts can break at any time, so it's best to assume nothing and check from the beginning. The three screws that hold the gauge onto the circuit board are also the electrical connections so be sure they are secure. One screw is power (when the key is on), one is ground, and the third leads to the sender. So take the cluster loose but leave it plugged in and make sure you have power and ground to each gauge with the key on. I think they ground through the black wires to the ground bolt behind (technically, in front of) the cluster.

 

I've already checked the screws, and they are all secure.

 

You should try to measure the voltage from each screw to ground with the cluster plugged in and the key on. One should be battery voltage of about 12.5, one near zero, and the third somewhere in between.

 

I've got the proper resistance on each terminal of both gauges, but I have found that the brass filament wires that are wrapped around the gauge needles are broken off of the screws, so I believe that it is the gauge itself that is bad.