Ive had the truck for 1 1/2 years abd the fuel gauge has been inoperable (showing below empty and fuel light on intermittently) since then. Tonight, while sitting still the fuel gauge started to read what I would consider accurate about 1/8 of a tank. Just as I started to find new found love for the truck it quit.


Any answers as to why it started working? It has never worked since the day I bought it.

thanks

 

sounds like a high resistance at your ground.

 

huh?

lewis

 

#47 probably meant that the ground for it probably needs to be cleaned. A high resistance means its not grounding out properly......but my guess is just on a bad sending unit, and we all know they can do funky things.

 

The sending units are flaky in the second gens. I have been trhough the sending unit on my 99 twice, and the one on my 96 sometimes stops working for a little while, then starts working again. Fortunately it works most of the time.
The really curious thing is it tends to stop working whan I am filling the truck up, but then there is no problem once it starts working again, even as the fuel level drops. Hasn't yet bothered me enough to replace it.

Chris

 

I have replaced mine once already and refuse to replace it again. Mine seem to last about 50k at least for two that have been in there. The one in there now sometimes works sometimes doesnt. My float seems to stick as it reads way high on the gauge. Normal full but once it gets down to 1/4 tank sometimes it just stops, other times it will go down to 1/2 tank and stop and other times it has gone below that. In any case I dont trust it one bit and go by mileage. I have decided that as soon as it warms up here in another month or two I am buying a capacitance type sender and sticking that thing in assumming I can get it to work properly. Have read several threads on people converting but my electrical genius is, well at the opposite end of genius. Going to give it a go anyway sick of no fuel gauge for the last 100ka nd dont want to put up with it for another 100k.

 

I replaced mine and it lasted 100 miles before it became intermetent again. I've just been going off my mileage but I think mine is either a broken wire or bad ground...I've just been too laz...I mean busy to look at it.

 

The high volume truck stop pumps and be very tough on your float, I had to replace mine after I filled with a high volume pump at a flying J truck stop.

If that is your only choice just open the flow nozzel a little don't use full force.

TallTom

 

Well, Ive only been wrong on the fuel mileage twice . Luckily I carry 35 gallons of off road and a transfer pump every where I go. I t lloks like the gauge will stay broken. I was hoping that it had fixed itself

thanks

lewis

 

I reviewed a lot of posts on this subject when I first joined the site and a common issue w/ the failed gauges was many guys were using the hi-volume big rig pumps. They surmised this washed over the float and caused premature damage. Others noted the grounding issue as an immediate fix. Good luck, running out of fuel on these rigs is a drag. Kurt