Fuel Gauge Broken

[Guest]

Another problem with this piece. The fuel gauge when in Acc. reads half and when started jumps to 3/4. Anyone had this problem. Is it the fuel level sending thing? How much am I looking at throwing into this money pit? I did a search and one post had the same problem, but no luck. The tank was at about 1/4 and I completly filled it and it did read completly full and then kinda just droped to 3/4 and its been there a while. I cant drop the tank because it has a lot of gas in it and I cant let it run low because I will have no idea how much is in it and dont want to be stranded. Thanks.
John

[97CamaroRS]

Yea, the fuel guage on my car is the same way but I've learned to just read it and guess how much fuel I have left lol. Everyone I know that has a 97 and under Camaro has the same problem...

My friend Rich has a 02 Ram Air Firebird and his fuel guage works just fine though..so they may have fixed the problem in the newer F-Body models.

I would guess that the repair would be $$$$$$ :(

[Ian]

ill clear this up for you man:

how to read your fuel gauge.

when the needle is on "F", you have about half a tank left, or about 7.5 gallons. when the needle is on 1/2 full, you have about 2.5 gallons left. the trip the needle takes from 1/2 to E is very fast. it will plummit.

so base your fillups on that.

[Guest]

Let me rephrase this:

My fuel gauge used to work. It doesnt now. It just reads 3/4 of the way full ALL the time.

Hope that clears up some confusion.

[John_D.]

Might be the sending unit. Might be a bad connection. Might be the gauge...

You'll probably have to drain the tank to get to the sending unit, unless you want to make an opening above the tank.

One way to drain the tank, is unhook the fuel line at the filter, and energize the pump. Hard to say how many gallon jugs you will need though...

If you know how many miles you usually get on a tank, fill it up, and when you get close to those miles, they you'll have less gas to deal with.

That's all I can think of.

The hole from the top might be worth it. There's a few people here who've done it.

[Camaro_SLP]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Ian:
ill clear this up for you man:

how to read your fuel gauge.

when the needle is on "F", you have about half a tank left, or about 7.5 gallons. when the needle is on 1/2 full, you have about 2.5 gallons left. the trip the needle takes from 1/2 to E is very fast. it will plummit.

so base your fillups on that.<hr></blockquote>

That is way off..If it's on F,,you basically have a full tank of gas. Those figures you gave are pretty dramatic. I think my gauge works fine..it will fluctuate with sudden stops and WOT,,but all do. After half way, it will drop faster, but not by much.

Anyways, that really has nothing to do with the post now.

I think someone on here swapped another gauge cluster once, and his gas gauge didn't work. I think he pulled the needle off, and put it back on,,and it worked. Most likely not your problem though..

[Ian]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Camaro_SLP:


That is way off..If it's on F,,you basically have a full tank of gas. Those figures you gave are pretty dramatic. I think my gauge works fine..it will fluctuate with sudden stops and WOT,,but all do. After half way, it will drop faster, but not by much.

Anyways, that really has nothing to do with the post now.

I think someone on here swapped another gauge cluster once, and his gas gauge didn't work. I think he pulled the needle off, and put it back on,,and it worked. Most likely not your problem though..<hr></blockquote>

yea, although the post doesnt have to do with this now, i know for a fact that myself and many other people can drive around, and half a tank of gas is when the needle is on the F line. ive checked the mileage before, and realized that this is the way my fuel tank is.

[Guest]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by John_D.:
Might be the sending unit. Might be a bad connection. Might be the gauge...

You'll probably have to drain the tank to get to the sending unit, unless you want to make an opening above the tank.

One way to drain the tank, is unhook the fuel line at the filter, and energize the pump. Hard to say how many gallon jugs you will need though...

If you know how many miles you usually get on a tank, fill it up, and when you get close to those miles, they you'll have less gas to deal with.

That's all I can think of.

The hole from the top might be worth it. There's a few people here who've done it.<hr></blockquote>

That is what I thought. Didnt want to hear it but, yea. Thanks. Also, does anyone know how many gallons our tanks hold (off the top of your head). It doesnt seem to be completly gone though, since I have no clue my mpg, I have to keep it topped off, which makes it hard to get the tank almost empty without going running the risking off running out of gas, and I noticed it did go up to its usual full position. I read in that other post about the arm thing or float being off/jammed...but either way I am going to have to drop the tank....ughhh.
John