fuel gauge

so im sitting in a parking lot waiting for my friend. the whole day, my check engine light was on. This was the first time it was on since i bought the truck (september). Anyway I was sitting there with the truck running and the fuel gauge started jumping all over the place then it would stop. It did this 2 or 3 times and hasnt done it since. I dont know if the check engine and the fuel gauge have anything to do with eachother or what but i also heard that some trucks had gauge issues. any ideas?

thanks, Mark

Dog,
I got a 99 and have have four other buddies with 99 to 2002 chevy or gmc trucks. of the four of us, only one has a fuel guage that works. mine is one and off. I read a post earlier about buildup on the sending unit so I started running some premium gas and fuel system cleaner through about every third tank and it has started working more. Maybe my imagination.

My car did the same thing. At first it would only happen like once a week, after awhile, it would only be working half the time, now its gone. I'm thinking either the sending unit or a bad ground somewhere. My engine light came never came on but when I had my buddy hook my car up to a scanner, there was a code for the sending unit. So, I'm thinking your truck threw a code for the unit.

As for the prem. gas thing, thats all I run in my car and it still happened.

If it gets worse I would suspect sulphur buildup on the sending unit. A few heavy doses of Techron might help.

same here it start like 2 weeks ago fuel gauge gose on and off
2000 silverado lt 1500 93.000 mils any body now how to fix it thanks

go get your codes pulled by gm theyll say fuel level sensor.....basically replace your fuel pump

very common problem. about 7 out of 10 people i talk to with these newer chevys and gmc's either have that problem or already have fixed it. You can replace just the sneding unit. I recently heard some talk about there being an aftermarket replacement for the stock unit. You don't have to replace the whole fuel pump. Some of the prices i've heard for the sending unit only were around $100

jake

thanks a lot

ok....i have now joined the team. my silverado 1500LT w/75k miles begin last summer to have problems with the fuel guage showing empty when I knew darn well it wasn't. basically the same problem as described in this post. I would like to know from others who have had this problem what they did to fix the issure.

1) Did you replace the sensor yourself and how tough of a job was it?

2) Did you have the sensor replaced by a shop? How expensive?

3) Found alternative fix to replacing the sensor?

4) Just lived with it?

Thanks,

Wags

wow old post hehe. well, welcome to the board!!!

What is going wrong is the sending unit. I dont have the part number for the Sending Unit/Fuel Pump off hand but I can try to find it. I am most likely going to get it from GMpartsdirect.com because theirs is half the cost of what the dealer wants. $212. The dealer wanted $428 roughly.

You can go about it two ways:

1) Drop the tank because the unit is on top of the tank.

or

2) You can do what I am probably going to do and Take off the bed (8 Bolts), take off all wiring to the tail lights and stuff, and just get at it from the top. You just need a couple guys to help you out with this one in order to lift the bed off and put it back on.

wow old post hehe. well, welcome to the board!!!

What is going wrong is the sending unit. I dont have the part number for the Sending Unit/Fuel Pump off hand but I can try to find it. I am most likely going to get it from GMpartsdirect.com because theirs is half the cost of what the dealer wants. $212. The dealer wanted $428 roughly.

You can go about it two ways:

1) Drop the tank because the unit is on top of the tank.

or

2) You can do what I am probably going to do and Take off the bed (8 Bolts), take off all wiring to the tail lights and stuff, and just get at it from the top. You just need a couple guys to help you out with this one in order to lift the bed off and put it back on.
There is no reason to take off the bed, just more work. On the 99 and up you just take the straps off and reach in there and get it. I think for a fuel pump and sending unit is around $212