A cpl of questions

hi

My girlfriend bought a 97 escort last year, 2.0L, auto, and aside from her rear ending a tree, everything is running alright more or less. There are just a few issues i would like to resolve to get it in tiptop tree crashing shape :)

The fuel gauge on the dashboard only goes between 1/4 and 1/2. She has to keep an eye on how many kms she does in order to know when to gas up. What could be causing this ?

The tranny fluid is a brownish-red color. I know that new stuff is bright red, but the ive been monitoring the color for a year and it hasnt changed. Should i just leave it be, or get it changed ?

Finally, i changed her brakes when she bought it, since the old ones were down to the pads. Now on occasion, speically in humid weather, the breaks make a squeeking noise when she turns corners sharply. Ive noticed that the front braking system is fairly basic on her car. The pads are spaced back with only a spring by the looks of it. I tend to think this is normal due to the simplicity of the system. Anyone else experienced this ??

Thanks in advance

Steve

Fuel guage:
Sounds like the sending unit is either failing or is hanging up on something in the gas tank.

I had a car once that actually had four different sizes of tires on it. when i had them changed the fuel gauge started working again!

Your brake squeeking could be just water on them, if it has been a while since you changed them pull the tire off and have a look to see if they are down to the "squeekers" yet.

I had a car once that actually had four different sizes of tires on it. when i had them changed the fuel gauge started working again!

Your brake squeeking could be just water on them, if it has been a while since you changed them pull the tire off and have a look to see if they are down to the "squeekers" yet.
The fuel gauge concern, is either your guage or the fuel sender.
The brake squeek could be a number of things. Did you machine the rotors? That would cause a noise.,if yo didn't. Did you make sure the slides move really easy, they are known for seizing up? And causing all kinds of problems.
Did you make sure one of the clips are not contacting the wheel cause you didn't assemble it properly?
Did you use motorcraft pads? Those Kmart cheepies are real noisey.
Just a hint ,always and I mean always, double check your work. specially on brake jobs.
Check her air in her tires if it's low, that will cause a sqweel around corners too. It should be at 32 psi.
And about that tranny fluid, go get a trans. flush, I recommend the dealership, these guys live and breathe Fords, don't wait, it should be done every 30,000 miles. Get a flush that will get all the fluid don't just drop the pan that's only like 5 qts. or so. A real flush is like 12 qts. Good luck

reviving an old post here...

i finally got around to replacing the sending unit, the old one didnt produce any resistance at all. however, the guage still didnt work.

i disassembled the instrument panel guage cluster and found that the needle was somewhat stiff. after turning it back and forth a few times it loosened up, but still doesnt work. im assuming its faulty since i followed the wire from the tank all the up to the fuse box and up to the guage, all kept the resistance.

does anyone have any experience repairing the guage, or if it has to be replaced, can i get an estimate on price ?

Thanks in advance

-Steve