Disconnecting the power wire from the sending unit should peg the gauge to Full. Grounding the signal wire will peg it to Empty. The signal wire is normally Tan, or a pinkish-tan color...the wire color changes with age. It would be the wire going to the larger terminal, usually a round one, towards the center of the sending unit. The ground wire is connected to the outer edge area of the sender.
If you ground the main(signal) wire, and the gauge stays pegged at Full, then there is a break(open) in the wire from the tank to the gauge cluster somewhere.
At the gauge, there should be a pink, and a tan wire. The tan wire is the one from the sending unit, and the pink is power for the gauge. With the cluster out, but connected, you should be able to ground the tan wire at the gauge, and it should go to Empty. If it does not, then either the gauge is defective, OR there is no power going to the gauge on the pink wire.
hth
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Joel Adams
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