Thought I'd post a pic of the instrument cluster off my 1988 Dakota.

This was while waiting to turn left onto I-49 in Myra LA after a quick "hydraulic pressure relief" stop. Cover is dusty and dirty, but this shows that yes, ALL gauges can work properly on a Gen1.

RwP

 

Haha, well I only have one that doesn't work - my speedometer.

 

Iv got 3 that don't work gas gauge that hasn't work since I got 92 dakota speedometer I broke a spring in it. And the auto trans gear piece doesn't work cuz the wire broke the last 2 were my fault tho.

 

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Shoulda knocked on wood. My oil pressure gauge started jumping around erractically (oil pressure sending unit is crap), now the gauge is stuck at the high end of the range - even when the key is off.

 

If all the wiring is good for the fuel gauge the sending unit could be installed wrong. The design of the gas tank will hold the float down (always on empty) if the sending unit isn't clocked in the right direction.

 

on my 22 gal tank the arm must raise in the forward direction. Cost me a pretty penny to figure that out. I would assume its the same for the 15 gal tanks since the lobe for the extra 7 gals is behind the pump float arm.