Where does the interior battery guage read from?

[lparsons]

Where does the interior battery gauge read from?

My 95 GT wouldn't start this afternoon, and the battery is less than 1 year old. I put a DMM across the terminals and read 11.7 volts.
However, the guage in the dash is leaning heavily towards 8. So it seems that the car thinks it has a dead battery.
When I try to start, I get the bad solenoid sound - rapid clicking. I'm expecting that the problem is in the connections going to the starter / solenoid. But the low voltage reading on the dash lead me to wonder where the battery gauge reads from for the dash.
anybody know?

 

[HISSIN50]

11.7 volts is pretty severely discharged. The voltmeter and most other guages source power from one feed (fuse 15 IIRC).

 

[lparsons]

While I was pondering the problem this afternoon I borrowed the wife's car and drove to a local auto parts store for a battery charger (with 75amp jumping ability). Upon return I was able to jump the car, which I then allowed to sit on charger for several hours.

I'll have to do a more thorough inspection later to determine why the battery lost so much charge sitting in the garage for 36 hours doing nothing. I suspect I may be on the verge of finding yet another electrical gremlin in my car. sigh...

thanks

11.7 volts is pretty severely discharged. The voltmeter and most other guages source power from one feed (fuse 15 IIRC).