My fuel gauge has been acting up and it was traced back to a bad sending unit. During the diagnostics I noticed that my gauge was cracked. The crack was in the plastic case right behind the bezel ring. The crack extended half way around the gauge and was open at least 1/16". I ordered a used replacement gauge and it wouldn't work. I also noticed that gauge was cracked at one of the mounting studs. The seller comp'ed me a second gauge, this one from a running unit. It was also cracked, this time in both spots. Unlike the other gauges, the fuel gauge is mounted using a strut which is fastened to the threaded studs. It would appear the gauges are being over tightened from the factory and they are cracking. I know that when I reinstalled my gauge I didn't make the nuts overly tight so it's not taking much to crack them. I ended up fixing mine by epoxy gluing the housing while using a rubber band to hold it together until the epoxy could set. I then reinstalled the gauge using a pair of spare nuts under the mounting bracket. I carefully set the depth of the nuts so the bracket would lightly clamp the gauge. Now I can not tighten the nuts and not worry about cracking the gauge a second time.
You can easily check the top half of the gauge without even removing it. If you remove the gauge, carefully check the housing for cracks and glue it up before they can spread. Then use a second set of jam nuts to prevent the bracket from being over tightened a second time.
You can easily check the top half of the gauge without even removing it. If you remove the gauge, carefully check the housing for cracks and glue it up before they can spread. Then use a second set of jam nuts to prevent the bracket from being over tightened a second time.
