fuel gauge

[loki]

i know someone else that's had this problem... i guessing it's happened " a lot"

my gauge only can work sitting still. it's usually full , but letting it sit on hills it will read correctly, or sometimes sitting still ie, at a light, it will correct itself, slowly.

shifting to nuetral will make the needle move quickly if it was working just seconds before, if it stays in gear it moves much slower.

my friend had a GP that did this swapped out the sending unit/pump and didn't solve it... so it's probably a ground issue somewhere. has anyone heard anything about this, a common place to find the problem?

it's been like this for a few years now... so i'm used to it, just thought i'd bring it up, don't know if i asked this before.

[76ChevyTrucker]

You're pretty saying the same thing that I would tell you. My Impala's fuel gauge no longer reads correctly (it'll be full for about a week, then suddenly be empty), so I just go by the trip odometer. I'd say that either the rheostat (sp?) that allows the fuel tank sending unit to let the gauge work properly is getting old, OR you've got a ground problem, or two.

[loki]

You're pretty saying the same thing that I would tell you. My Impala's fuel gauge no longer reads correctly (it'll be full for about a week, then suddenly be empty), so I just go by the trip odometer. I'd say that either the rheostat (sp?) that allows the fuel tank sending unit to let the gauge work properly is getting old, OR you've got a ground problem, or two.

lol yeah. i've just gotten used to it as is it'd prolly be harder to sell as is when i need something new...when that time comes.

i can get 240miles city typically before it'd prolly read E ~20mpg with a ~3gal "reserve" or a winter just in case: 200 miles.

thanks for the knowledge..but i kinda figured as such what you said.

[76ChevyTrucker]

Yeah, since i'm basically going to keep mine until its paid for and then get a bike for primary transportation, its easy for me to go by the trip odometer than chase the wires from the sending unit to the gauge cluster, to all the various grounds and yadda yadda yadda. Now once I get the bike and get it paid off, I'll probably go in and buy another piece of four-wheeled transportation, THEN I'll fix all that stuff (and the crack in the windshield, and just all the little minor things that'll get me a better trade value, not that I'll really care at that point)

[CMG]

You're pretty saying the same thing that I would tell you. My Impala's fuel gauge no longer reads correctly (it'll be full for about a week, then suddenly be empty), so I just go by the trip odometer. I'd say that either the rheostat (sp?) that allows the fuel tank sending unit to let the gauge work properly is getting old, OR you've got a ground problem, or two.

I agree. I would check that your sending unit has a good ground, if it's relying on mounting straps etc to ground the sending unit you would get intermittent usage of the gauge.....

Or- just remove the sending unit wire and see if it runs the gauge up to full when you ground it. Eliminate the gauge and wiring from your "cause" list...

[76ChevyTrucker]

That's always a good idea too. But like I said about mine in particular, I'm just going to let her ride like it is for the moment. I'll get around to fixing it.