[JDININO57]

So I was able to address the faulty fuel gauge/sending unit and it turned out to be several factors.

The “new” 4 year old OER sending unit has a few problems.
The insulation on the 12V “strip” powering the rheostat was split. Not the root cause but it was failing.

The brass float on the “new” 4 year old replacement OER unit was in fact split.

Since the ‘new” OER sending unit had problems I ordered a “new” replacement from OER including the JEEP plastic float as FirstOwner69 suggested.

I installed all of it and unfortunately, there was no change. I checked the “ground” and “power” wire and everything checked out OK.

I continued trouble shooting, checking continuity to ground and power, re inserted the sending unit and Voilà, it read ¾ of a tank, as it should have.

While the mystery is not definitively solved, I suspect it was a ground/power issue. Anyway it works and I appreciate every ones input.