Gas gauge and speedometer do not work

Tiny
HONUGIRL2591
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 TOYOTA COROLLA
  • 1.8L
  • 4 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 20,000 MILES
Original cluster gauges eventually failed over period of time. Indicator lights continued to work. New (used) cluster installed. Indicator lights work. Temperature gauge works. Odometer and trip now works. Gas gauge and speedometer do not work and stays at 0. If middle connector is unplugged gas gauge will register at full. Gas take is currently full.
Monday, June 24th, 2019 AT 10:07 AM

12 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 51,710 POSTS
Hello,

There are five fuses that run the cluster. use this guide to check for power and the cluster wiring diagrams to see which fuses need to be checked:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-fuse

Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.
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Tuesday, June 25th, 2019 AT 1:06 PM
Tiny
HONUGIRL2591
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Mahalo Ken for your response. Fuses in the interior and under the hood were checked and are operational.
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Tuesday, June 25th, 2019 AT 1:48 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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I would check for power and ground at the connector and if okay I would replace the cluster with used/rebuilt.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-wiring

Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.
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Wednesday, June 26th, 2019 AT 10:28 AM
Tiny
HONUGIRL2591
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Hi Ken, so the new/used instrument cluster was exchanged for another one. Installed the second one and voila temperature gauge works, speedometer works, trip and odometer works. Gas gauge doesn’t. Going to check the fuses and relays for the fuel pump? What else could I check?
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Thursday, June 27th, 2019 AT 7:21 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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Getting closer nice work. The gas gauge could have a sender out which is common. You will need to ground the sender wire to see if it goes to full. ( Yellow/red back at the tank ) Let me know what happens.
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Saturday, June 29th, 2019 AT 4:30 PM
Tiny
HONUGIRL2591
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Aloha Ken,

Okay, so checked the sender and cleaned it funny thing though there is a cork for the float like a wine cork. Is that even normal? Okay, so here’s the stupid question, how do I ground that wire?
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Sunday, June 30th, 2019 AT 7:32 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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Cork? Can you send a video/picture you can upload it here. This could be the problem.
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Monday, July 1st, 2019 AT 11:14 AM
Tiny
HONUGIRL2591
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Aloha Ken,

I’ll try and take it back out but this is what it looked like attachéd to the float lever.
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Monday, July 1st, 2019 AT 11:32 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Lol, that's a good one. I would replace the sender but while it is out connect the wiring and turn the key on and move the float up and down to see if the gauge moves. Please let me know.
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Monday, July 1st, 2019 AT 11:40 AM
Tiny
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Aloha Ken,

Below is the photo of the cork float. Okay, so tested the sender while out of the tank. Gas gauge slowly climbed. We replaced the cork float with another float and reinstalled pump back into tank. The gas gauge continued to climb to full which is where the gas tank is currently. Then the gas gauge dropped to empty.
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Saturday, July 6th, 2019 AT 4:26 PM
Tiny
HONUGIRL2591
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Oh and now with pump out of the tank and plugged in when I move the arm to the full position the gas gauge does not move. Argh!
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Saturday, July 6th, 2019 AT 4:42 PM
Tiny
KEN L
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It sounds like the sender is bad, can you ground the sensor wire and have it go to full, then unplug the sender and it should go to empty. Let me know.
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Sunday, July 7th, 2019 AT 1:49 PM

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