gas gauge needle

Gas gauge needle vibrates like an electric engraving pencil. Any ideas what to look for? '98 with 130K. seemed to move less after an application of gas line drier. Thanks.

Gas gauge needle vibrates like an electric engraving pencil. Any ideas what to look for? '98 with 130K. seemed to move less after an application of gas line drier. Thanks.
Did you ever figure it out mine went crazy 2 2 weeks ago.

Dont know about his, but mine was jumping all over the place for about 6 months then quit sworking altogether. No biggie, just used the trip computer to keep tabs on fuel used. Then my fuel pump died! Was informed that this is a common indicator for fuel pump going out.

I have a '99 and my gas guage needle started vibrating a few months back as well. I told my hubby right away so he could take care of it or whatever. His response was uh-huh.... I was so surprised since he's so obsessive about maintenace on our vehicles. I will be bumming big time if the guage goes out. I, too often, let the tank get too low before refueling. It seems to vibrate less when it gets around 1/4 tank. Oh yeah, just for comparison sake, I have 130,000+ miles on my Astro.

I have had the same problem for about 1/2 a year. My van is a 99 with 70k.

In my original post someone told me the problem is caused by a bad sending unit (the thing that tells the gauge how much gas is in the tank). This is located in the fuel tank and is part of the fuel pump module. The fuel pump module runs about $350.

I am not worrying about it for now. My van runs great and gets good mileage 18-19 city 21-22 hw (according to the trip computer). I plan on changing the pump module around 100k.

If you have around 130k miles you may want to consider changing the module since your fuel pump may be near its end anyway. It would be better to do it at home than when you are on a trip. I think the labor would run an extra $200.

I wanted to update this by saying that now my van will not start. On 12/8 I was on the highway when it all of a sudden died on me-in the fastlane-in the snow. Nice. Thank God a state trooper pulled up behind me and stopped traffic so I could get over onto the right-hand shoulder. It did restart but was sputtering at first. Anyway, my husband and I picked it up after he got off of work and he drove it home. Last night he replaced the air filter and now it won't start at all. (I'm not saying that it's because of the air filter, just saying what he replaced for now.) It wants to turn over but just won't. So we're guessing that yes, the fuel pump did go out.

Any other thoughts??

Well, when you turn the ignition key to the "on" position, just before the starter turns the engine over, if you listen closely you should hear the fuel pump start running. If you don't hear anything, the fuel pump is probably shot. One remote possibility is that the fuel filter is clogged. The pump and gage sending unit probably are sold as one unit. Having a pump replaced is very expensive. If you can get it done for the price of the pump +$200 you are doing very well. The fuel pump replacement on my Jeep ran $900.

As my fuel pump was die-ing, the van was hard to start, but ran well once started. Spraying stating fluid down the air pipe at the aircleaner always started it, and it would run fine. After replacing the pump, all is well. Except the price, my local GM dealer wanted $860.00 Canadian for the "pump assembly" in a box. It includes the guage sending unit.
I got an after-market assembly for $460.00. That's for a '97 van

another update........

My hubby put the back of the van up on jackstands last night in anticipation of working on it. This morning he went out to try to start it to see if he could hear the fuel pump and lo and behold! it started!!!
What the heck is going on here?!
If you had to start replacing things, where would you begin?
oh yeah, wanted to add that yesterday, while I tried to start it and he sprayed whatever it is you spray, it wouldn't start.

thanks!

If starting fluid didn't start it, I'd suspect the ignition system. Where to start?A visual inspection of the cap / rotor / wires. I'd make sure all the fuses, fuse links, and connectors are connected. There's some fuse links behind the battery that corrode I'm told. Maybe something like WD-40 on the cap / wires to displace water and see if it works, then replace the bad stuff.
P.S., no fault codes/ SES light?

If starting fluid didn't start it, I'd suspect the ignition system. Where to start?A visual inspection of the cap / rotor / wires. I'd make sure all the fuses, fuse links, and connectors are connected. There's some fuse links behind the battery that corrode I'm told. Maybe something like WD-40 on the cap / wires to displace water and see if it works, then replace the bad stuff.
P.S., no fault codes/ SES light?

No. No ses light.
Hubby went ahead and replaced the fuel filter and has bought the fuel pump, but probably won't get to it til Wednesday. I believe he's also going to take a look at the cap and rotor.

thanks for all the replies. :)

The fuel pump is electric. Frequently they do just quit, never again to work, but not always.
Another possibility is the fuel pump relay. What I suggest is getting a Haynes manual and a digital multimeter and test the circuits. I'd do this before installing the pump. Nothing worse than installing a $300+ part only to discover it's not the problem.
One shade tree approach would simply be to inspect all the wiring, it could be something as simple as a short caused by worn insulation on a wire.