Project Finished

Nice job! Looks brand-new to me.

Thanks, it took three years in my spare time. I re-used the top, I used dupli-colors bedliner on it. Hides scratches and protects it where the original gel coat had come off. The top really turned out better than I had hoped. The frame was blasted and powder coated, the body tub is new. The doors are off an '83 CJ7. I originally had the soft top and half doors, which on an '87 isn't much better than an umbrella. The motor is a brand new crate unit from Jasper, in stock config for longevity. No hot rod parts here until I break it in a little bit. It has bedliner rolled inside the bottom of the tub, then brand new Quadratec carpet over it. New bestop seats, new gas tank, new radiator, well, everything else is new, really, except the hood, fenders, fender flares and grill. The wheels are off my moms '02 Eddie Bauer Explorer, with the center caps getting the custom treatment to say Jeep, instead of Ford. I just liked their looks, and mom wanted something different. Worked out great, lol. Still to do are stereo, and some odd electrical issues. Like, the gas gauge always registers full. Haven't figured that one out yet.

Spdloader

Don't leave your gas gauge on full, it will burn out very soon. Pinned out full means the pink wire from the sender has a short and should be pull off the back of the gauge.

You also don't want that pink wire powered up if the short happens to be 'inside' the gas tank! It is really scary pulling a gas sending unit to see it all smoked out....

Here is a good diagnostic on the gauges and senders.

Thanks Mike, I have been tinkering with this problem since before the body work, so I normally leave it disconnected completely, then reconnect after trying a fix. I have run wires direct, with no shorts or breaks or pinches, and still no change. I'm down to either the gauge (old) is bad, or the sending unit (brand new) is bad. It's gonna be the gremlin that turns my last few brown hairs grey.

Spdloader

If the sender is new and you've wired it directly and you're still having problems, check the sending unit wire (at the guage end) with an ohmeter; if you get a very low reading (infinute), then you're still looking at a short. Next, check the pinout on the sending unit connector with the wire disconnected; if it's the same, then the new sending unit is bad. If not, the wire is shorting out (unlikely.) If the sending unit checks out, then the guage is toast.

Ahhh, if life were only this simple...LOL.

Jeeps have special sending units. I am not 100% sure on the 87 YJ, but the CJ has the 5 volt ones.

What happens when you unplug the ground tag to the tank? The gauge should then read 0, if not, it has issues.

A multimeter set for resistance or ohms on the wire to the sender tells lots. If the sender tests at low ohms, say 10, the tank should be full. If it tests higher, up to 73 ohms, the tank should be empty.

Mike