Fuel Gauge and Speedo erratic

The_Traveler · Post by **The_Traveler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:49 am

Just completed my atx-mtx swap on my 2001.

Everything was working without the reverse lights/torque lockup soleniod issues dealt with and then after I took the car to campus and after a bit of reverse driving I parked it and went to class.

A few hours I return to find that my speedo is mainly at 0 and sometimes moves all over the place and that my fuel gauge will drop 1/8 or 1/4 down or up every little while. The fuel gauge plummets at least 1/8th, but usually more every time I start moving the car in first and usually right after I shift into second.

I tried the speedo with the engine off and an atx speed sensor spun by hand and it works but I'm wondering if maybe there is an electrical issue that caused both problems, since it's quite a coincidence. I'm hoping that when the engine is running there is an electrical problem like too much current draw and not a good ground somewhere so that it's not my fuel pressure and/or the speedo gear in the tranny.

I've tested the cluster with the trip button and it seems to work. Will try my old non-tach one this weekend.

http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?p=2076902#2076902

blue demon02 · Post by **blue demon02** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:23 am

I had that problome when I tried to swap to an SRT cluster. And once in a while it will randomly do it. I know I have a few wirring issues. So not that this helps you much. Make sure everything is grounded where its sepose to be.

refect · Post by **refect** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:42 am

try and test your cluster. to do it just push your trip button and hold it while the car is off. then turn your key to the on position(while still holding the trip button). the guages will do a full sweep and reset themselves. you should be able to tell if they are all working properly or not moving how they should when it does it. i think when they do the sweep they all do it simotainiously(sp?) so you should be able to tell. if nothing seems to be wrong with them then then it is most likely wiring or a sensor that is causing it...that would be my guess...

The_Traveler · Post by **The_Traveler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:16 pm

I tested it and all the needles move properly.

blue demon02 wrote:I had that problome when I tried to swap to an SRT cluster. And once in a while it will randomly do it. I know I have a few wirring issues. So not that this helps you much. Make sure everything is grounded where its sepose to be.

Are you referring to my fuel gauge, speedo, or both?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:23 pm

My 1st gen did that way back when. It was some type of electric short/bad ground. Don't know if that helps.

The_Traveler · Post by **The_Traveler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:41 pm

03blackrt wrote:My 1st gen did that way back when. It was some type of electric short/bad ground. Don't know if that helps.

Fuel and speedo or just fuel?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:39 pm

yes, typically only fuel and speedo, everything else worked fine most of the time. sometimes only the speedo, a few times the complete dash went dead.

my first gen was a 5spd, no swap or anything. could be you did something with a ground wire, inadvertently did some thing to some wires or something while doing your swap.

The_Traveler · Post by **The_Traveler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:32 pm

03blackrt wrote:yes, typically only fuel and speedo, everything else worked fine most of the time. sometimes only the speedo, a few times the complete dash went dead.

my first gen was a 5spd, no swap or anything. could be you did something with a ground wire, inadvertently did some thing to some wires or something while doing your swap.

I will triple check everything. The only part that worries me is that it was working after the swap for about 200km.

Also the fuel doesn't fluctuate when the car is standing still in my garage (on or in the on position) and the speedo works fine when i spin an atx speed sensor by hand.

I haven't had the time to fiddle with removing the current sensor since it's stuck in there as if there was some silicone holding it in and I'm quite busy.

02SRT-4Swap · Post by **02SRT-4Swap** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:04 pm

my car does the same thing and its a 5 speed swap my reostat is bad in the fuel sending unit so when u hit the gas it goes down and when i hit the brake it goes up when im sitting still it doesn't move my speedo doesn't work but i have my neutral safety switch from the auto tranny wired to a switch under my dash but my speedo will jump sometimes when i start it.......