A friend has a 1999 Road Star and the fuel gauge wasn't working on it. We took the sender unit out, measured it's resistance at various float locations and determined that it was on the money! With a full tank of gas, the gauge would still read empty! We even took the sender unit out of a working 2000 Road Star and put it in the 1999 and got the same results. We checked the little green connector under the fuel tank and it seemed fine. We had about concluded that it had to be a problem in the wiring when my friend, the owner of the bike, saw a white connector that was hooked directly to the ground on the battery. He disconnected the connector and the panel went dead. When he reconnected the connector the panel lit back up and lo and behold the fuel gauge was working! Anybody got any ideas as to why this would fix the problem?

We had disconnected and reconnected the battery (positive side) earlier, trying to get a "reset" on the unit, if you will, but had no luck. I don't understand how that ground wire, which was clearly making since the panel was lit up and even the fuel gauge was reading Empty before disconnecting it, could be the problem. Any ideas?

BTW, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

pday--

Could be the same problem I and a bunch of others have had with the R* gauge. They just start reading wrong for apparently no reason. The fix seems to be disconnecting the battery for an extended period. You said you had the battery on & off and still no luck, and it worked when the ground wire was disconnected. Was that wire off longer than the times you unhooked the battery? Disconnecting the battery overnight usually clears the problem...and the computer memory that causes the problem.

RK

Nope. He just disconnected it and reconnected it within 15 or 20 seconds. He really was just curious about what that ground wire was for. I had read about some of the guys disconnecting the battery and getting the fuel gauge to start. That was the reason we had tried disconnecting the battery earlier, although we didn't do it overnight. I'm stumped.

Another case of the mysterious R* fuel gauge. Things seem to have a mind of their own.

They gotta be made by Microsoft, I tell ya...

RK

Roadkill1962 wrote:
They gotta be made by Microsoft, I tell ya...

RK

That has got to be the funniest comment I have read so far on the Clinic. I laugh because I say that all the time. I use Linux and avoid M$ as much as possible.

JDoza wrote:
I use Linux and avoid M$ as much as possible.

..... so you're not going to Vista.

Doc

Screw MS and Li@$# I use the Cougar fuel system.......I hit reserve then look for a gas station....Coug ......could the ground wire your friend pulled loose have been shorting the wires to the fuel sensor......trace the wire<br><br>Post edited by: Cougar, at: 2007/01/03 07:28

We don't need no stinkin fuel gauge!

Just wait until the guy on the Harley you're riding with needs to stop for fuel and fuel up then. Should have plenty of reserve left.

Yeah...building computers is my OTHER hobby (aside from the R*). I already have Vista...I love &amp; hate it the 50% I have it running on my machine. Pretty slick...aside from the lack of drivers...but that's another topic in another forum...

They are kinda similar, though, since I'm always tweaking &amp; tinkering, trying to make the focus of both hobbies run faster &amp; smoother...

RK