loose post on fuel gauge killing engine?

[hueyhoolihan]

here's one for the wiring gurus...

the power post on my 1941 ford fuel gauge is very loose within the gauge itself. the wire to the post from the ignition switch is tight and secure.

the wire when manipulated by hand will cause the gauge to either work, or not work and on occasion will cause the wire to get very hot. i suspect that the manipulation is, in order, creating a good connection, a broken connection, and a shorted connection.

if so, here's my question.

if the ignition wire to the fuel gauge is manipulated in such a way as to produce a short within the fuel gauge itself, and the engine is running at the time, could it act as if i had turned off the ignition?

i hope so, because i've been having a problem with the engine spontaneously stopping for no good reason, often when coming to a complete stop. it has baffled me.

my thinking is that inertia may be causing the fuel gauge's failed power post to short out to the fuel gauge's case and then to ground. and so doing killing the engine.

[tubman]

Seems like sound logic to me. Now to check it out in the real world.

[ford38v8]

…often when coming to a stop. I had a similar situation while going uphill with a short under the dash. Hot wire, gravity, smoke. Level ground or going downhill no problem. But that was a brand x, we don’t care much about those.

[hueyhoolihan]

Originally Posted by tubman

Seems like sound logic to me. Now to check it out in the real world.

i ran a test just now, and with the car running, i was unable to kill the engine by manipulating ignition wire to the loose post on the fuel gauge. OTOH, i wasn't able to make it hot either, but i was able to make the gauge work and not work...

...will probably try it again if and when the engine stops for no apparent reason whatsoever in the future. or when i replace the fuel gauge with the new one i bought. but that could be never, as i suspect that i will have to remove the instrument cluster (from the rear) and THAT will be a job i'm likely to avoid indefinitely! ha

[glennpm]

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Disconnect the hot wire to the back of the fuel gauge and tape the wire end. Go for a few rides and see what happens. Don't run out of gas :-)