[Shotimes] grounds?

[Leigh Smith]

Sounds to me like you are right on track. Except that I think you have an
"open" (cut or broken wire) not a short. The rain helps it to complete the
circuit.A wire can break inside the insulation and be especially difficult
to find.
A new ground almost anywhere should be ok. The special resistance is in the
sender unit itself.
Lee

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Malachuk" <bmalach1@nycap.rr.com>
To: <shotimes@autox.team.net>; <TechSHO@topica.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 5:50 PM
Subject: [Shotimes] grounds?


> Well I've had a problem with my fuel sender since I bought my 94 Opal
Frost,
> seems that the gas gauge only likes to read when it is raining out. I jsut
> spliced in a new connector to the fuel pump and gauge sender, and key on
> still same problem Wait it gets better. If I unhook the ground from the
pump
> and leave hang against the metal of the guage sender/fuel pump assembly
low
> an behold the gauge works without a problem. So I figure out that I have a
> bad ground, Orange wire with yellow stripe. EVTM says go to G103 which is
> one th front fender by the airbox. So I test across that to the battery
> negative. I get a beeping from my multimeter. I test that ground location
to
> other grounds in the engine bay, beep beep beep all the time. Soooo then I
> go back to the gauge sender, test the O/Y connector in the harness to the
> rear brakeline no beep. Try other places, no beep. Realize that there muct
> be a short somewhere in the harness running from that ground to the rear
of
> the car. The fuel pump sees the proper volts all the time, and runs right,
> and when it rains the sender was accurate. :-) So I'm left with a quandry.
> How do I fix this even if the fix is a "cob job" cause I don't want to go
> thru the hassle of dropping the tank again and I refuse to cut a hole in
my
> floor.
>
> Seeing how AFAIK the car always has a ground going on there shouldn't be
any
> reason I can't just take a self tapping sheet metal screw and attach a
> "second ground lead" to the wire going into the wire supplying the ground
> for the fuel sender. I'm thinging under the rear seat would be a good
place
> for that :-) I know there are resistance questions involved with the
sender,
> but a ground is a ground is a ground right? I would think that the fuel
tank
> it self would be grounded to the body fia the straps and bolts holding it
up
> correct? Which may be why when driving in the rain (how dare I?) the gauge
> starts to work properly as there is enough of a better ground tank to
body.
>
> So any major reasons why I shouldn' just ass in a second ground and call
it
> G103A in my mind :-) I'm not up for trying to rewire the harness
containing
> the current O/Y wire from the front of the car back.
>
> Bruce J Malachuk
>
> * 94 Opal Frost MTX
>
> * 93 Emerald Green MTX
>
> * 93 Black ATX - parts
>
> * 95 Silver Frost ATX SE - SLO
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