Thread: Bad gas gauge
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Old 06-17-2012, 09:22 PM   #5
Baja Guy
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If you don't want the whiz bang electronics you can go through the normal stuff too. Go to the hardware or auto parts store and get a tiny tube of dielectric grease, a brass or other metal brush, and a little bit of fine emery cloth.
Disconnect the battery at the negative post. Then, 1 at a time remove, clean up & reconnect the electrical connections to the gauge, the sender and the connector plug if there is one. Just brush or buff the contacts enough to remove any corrosion and create a slight metallic shine, if the shine is silvery on copper contacts that's OK. It means they have been tinned to enhance conductivity. Don't remove the tinning any more than necessary to get a clean connection. The emery might not be necessary unless the contacts are really green with corrosion.
Most 4 Winns I know of your vintage are OMC and I don't know their wiring, I have an 89 Mercruiser. On Merc's there is a master plug with 10 or 11 contacts, A couple of years ago I had to individually clean each plug "male" contact and then stick a razor down the splits in the centers to spread each post a bit to get them to make good contact with the receptacle end of the plug. On the receptacle end I rolled up my emery cloth to put it in the holes to clean them up. Now all my gauges and switches work properly, before I would get intermittent failures.
Once the gauge is working the grease is good for slowing future corrosion, just put a little bit on each contact. It's OK if it gets between the lead and the post, dielectric grease is conductive. So don't use so much that it makes a path to ground (metal) or to another connector.
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1989 Baja Sunsport 196, Mercruiser 5.7, For Sale
1987 Formula 223 LS with 1997 350 Mag
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