Fuel Guage - Got my Escalade Cluster

[GMCYukalade]

Ok, so most of you know me by now, and know i have a major Fuel Hand problem... as you can see in attachment 2...

Well, i installed the Escalade Cluster (just trying it in tonight) - and the fuel hand was reading 1/4 tank But still Jittering constantly... (attachment 1) - i was like GRRRRR... so i took the New one out, put Old one in.. and still same way below full near oil guage reading...

So.. than i put new one back in more more again just to make sure that the fuel hand was still reading 1/4.. and guess what.. it jumped to way above full (not down at the Oil guage but still) (attachment 3) so.. now im like what is going on...

I've replaced the fuel pump twice...-both new wiring harness- and i ran a complete new body ground and provided it with a wire str8 from the neg. terminal on battery..
-Dealership told me it was the cluster- -- it is not the cluster - what else could be wrong?

--and side note-- the Blue LED dash mod looks cool- but I really like the teal color of these guages so imma keep it that way

---edit---
Adding to this

I was at a swap meet here in NC few weeks back and this is when all my fuel hand probs started, i picked up a fuel gauge while i was there.. guys like yeah this is for GM it plugs into the wire from the sender (i think he is talking about the OLLD senders like whats in my chevelle) the one wire sender..

How would I go about putting a fuel gauge in my vehicle? i mean is it possible to have it hooked up to the sender in the tank.. or do i need to find an aftermarket level? and if so.. what would be best?

any help is very appreciated!

 

[treepete]

dude, I bet your pissed. Man.

Fuel sensor voltage is cool, but gauge is still wacked. I dont get it.

But yeah, it looks cool in there.

How is your dash holdin up with all the on-and-off you been doin'? The clips, I mean.

 

[GMCYukalade]

its held up fine.. i mean ive pulled the dash off more than anything on the whole truck.. now every now and then and again the clip over near the headlight switch will pop out and catch my finger... doesn't feel good at all.. i have two dashes the painted and my factory color

 

[GMCYukalade]

---wow--- I just took my original cluster apart, and the fuel guage stepper motor.. is like rust red! and the other three (oil, batt, temp) are getting a little red here and there but NOTHING like the fuel... now.. Question is.. since i have two of these clusters, do the other three steppers work the same as the fuel? i mean, i could just put one of my steppers into the escalade cluster - that is.. if its the stepper...

 

[GMCYukalade]

no, the steppers are not the same....

anyone on the Aftermarket Guages?

 

[jnbqm9]

Hey, I don't know if you saw it or not, but in attachment 3 above, your oil pressure is way high too. Maybe you connected something wrong when you put the new one back in??? It's exactly the same in #1 and #2...

 

[GMCYukalade]

no, i didn't notice that at all.. thanks for pointing that out.. wow.. i've never seen my oil pressure guage do that.. its not doing it now tho.. humph - well.. the fuel guage is working again - just viberating like CRaZy... i'm going to do like what TwinTT said he had to do once - add an extra ground to the guage cluster, see if that fixes anything..

 

[sasquatch094]

you have any pics of the escalade cluster???

 

[treepete]

i think its pic#3 above. It looks just like my cluster, and I think the Denalis and Escalades are the same.

 

[sasquatch094]

theres really no difference in clusters, jsut the 100 to 120 mod????

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

sasquatch94- yea its the third pic. they look the same other than the speedometer going to 120

yuk- that oil pressure guage looks the same as the one in my camaro, haha pegged all the way out. (bad sender on mine though)

if it comes to it you should be able to buy an aftermarket guage and install it just as you would an oil or temp guage. (haven't done a fuel guage yet) check out the Sunpro guage website. i've got one of their temp guages in the camaro and it works great.

 

[GMCYukalade]

Sasquatch - Differance is, they are teal when lit, they have the 120mph sweep, they have a red line on the tach and white face needles.. thats all -

96Pro - I have the aftermarket Gauge - i belive the only way i can do it, is to drill a hole in the tank and install a float..

Today, i tried to hook up my aftermarket gauge to the data-code 16 on the back of the cluster (the wire that controls the fuel gauge) - and even the aftermarket Gauge had a case of the Shakes - so it is in that wire... if only i could trace it down to where ever it goes..

 

[GMCYukalade]

Which i just checked sunpro - and there stuff is pretty cheap - so this is probably something i will be doing in the near future.. that is if i can't find the wire that controls the factory one...

http://www.sunpro.com/product_category.php?id=331

wanna get the - Fuel Level, Fuel Pressure, and Trans Temp gauges... - thats the only style gauge they have that has all three.. - if you click on the fuel level, you will see it requires the sender - the sender is like 17 bux..

 

[jnbqm9]

Where did you pick up that escalade instrument panel? Did you get the front cover or the entire panel with lights? That looks pretty cool and maybe it will have better connections than my voltage/turn signal corrupted one...

 

[95TwinTT]

I thought I better share this with the entire class. I did not get a chance to revive my computer that contains the schematics, but I did have a friend of mine grab me two quick schematics of the instrument clusters from the 99 tahoe and escalade.

The wire from the fuel gauge that is probably purple, that goes to pin 16 of the cinch connector, goes from there to the ECM.

With the ECM controlling these fuel gauges, there are more variables involved. It is not just a sending unit changing the voltage like the old days.

Being controlled by software, there is a chance that on one model, the gauge could be actually a 5 volt gauge and on the other a 12 volt. It all depends on what all else they are doing with the information from the fuel tank.

Let's say you have a low fuel indicator, separate from the fuel gauge, or a separate program that is estimating miles per gallon while you drive.

I would advise you guys to stop swapping instrument panels until you can prove what those differences are.

With the escalade panel pointing south, it may be a five volt gauge in place of what was a 12 volt gauge. If you can put the stock one back in and it works properly, I would stick with that for the moment. If you put the stock one in and it does not work, the ECM, may be damaged.

The fuel sender wire (purple with white stripe) goes into the ECM on C3 pin 13 with the black wire going to pin 19 as sensor common. Your fuel gauage, purple wire from pin 16 on the cinch connector, goes to C1 pin 9 on the ECM.

If I can get my computer to wake up, I might be able to provide a bit more detailed info. That's all I got for the moment. Good luck..........:thumbsup:

 

[GMCYukalade]

-- The Esky cluster wasn't when my fuel problem started - it started in my original cluster - thats why i switched - i've taken both clusters apart, and they both have the same stepper motors inside of them, both use the same chip board as well -

I've had several wiring issues w/ my truck, IE: Headlight switch went out 3 times, 4x4 switch once, heater control switch twice.. So, a new wiring problem.. isn't something that i'm not expecting - just wish it was easier to fix and track down

--edit--

Also - the fuel hand issue happened after my truck set for two years w/ a dead battery.. So far the only other things i have found was one corroded fuse - that was still working, however i replaced it..

Also another side note: - the esky ECM for the 99 esky will drop right in my 99 kon.. same ECM.. - this isn't something i'm going to do.. just something i researched out

 

[GMCYukalade]

Where did you pick up that escalade instrument panel? Did you get the front cover or the entire panel with lights? That looks pretty cool and maybe it will have better connections than my voltage/turn signal corrupted one...

I picked up the entire cluster from www.car-part.com - it searches thousands of junk yards

when you go there, search for 99 caddy escalade - and choose Speedometer (not instrument cluster) click on the page number with the * and start calling the numbers.. - mine was $65 after shipping, only thing i had to replace on it was the front clear plastic cover...

 

[95TwinTT]

-- The Esky cluster wasn't when my fuel problem started - it started in my original cluster - thats why i switched - i've taken both clusters apart, and they both have the same stepper motors inside of them, both use the same chip board as well -

I've had several wiring issues w/ my truck, IE: Headlight switch went out 3 times, 4x4 switch once, heater control switch twice.. So, a new wiring problem.. isn't something that i'm not expecting - just wish it was easier to fix and track down

--edit--

Also - the fuel hand issue happened after my truck set for two years w/ a dead battery.. So far the only other things i have found was one corroded fuse - that was still working, however i replaced it..

Also another side note: - the esky ECM for the 99 esky will drop right in my 99 kon.. same ECM.. - this isn't something i'm going to do.. just something i researched out

Ok, if your sure they are compatible, back to the schematic's. They show that the Oil gauge, Fuel gauge and Voltmeter, share a common +12 feed and a common ground, so I would rule out +12 and ground as part of the problem, as long as the oil pressure and voltmeter seem to be accurate.

We are back to the purple wire. The schematic does not show this stepper you refer to.

Since this gauge has a +12 volt supply and a ground, it seems to lean towards the purple wire being a pulse or specific resistance. Have you checked that purple wire for resistance to ground?

 

[GMCYukalade]

Not yet, i just picked up a multimeter today - so.. but as i said - i hooked the purple wire up to an aftermarket gm (something like an autometer) gauge.. and it vibrates as well.. so i'm stuck trying to track down, why this wire is pulsing


- I actually bought one of these, hope its good enuf to do what i need to do with it -
http://www.toolup.com/productinfo.asp?ID=DM-810&Man=Greenlee

 

[95TwinTT]

That is a very good meter. They are great for reading resistance, current and voltage. They don't do much for pulses though. It sounds like that is what you are finding on the purple wire.

I would be careful what you hook to it. If it is expecting to send a low current pulse to some circuit in the gauge that is interested in that pulse, that is one thing.

Loading that pulse down with some heavy resistance may be enough to knock out the driver in the ECM.

The schematics I recieved do not get into the actual gauge itself. I wonder if there is some electronics, in the gauge itself. The old style standard (volt meter) gas gauge, has nothing in it but a magnet and something for the needle to pivot on.

Do you know anyone with a scope that can take a reading on that purple wire? That would be the safest way to test.

Youi mentioned stepper, what is it or where is it?