fuel gauge inop

'99 Buick Regal LS - Series II 3800 V6

First off hello everyone, and thanks inadvance for any light you can shed on this fault. My fuel gauge at every start up is on full no matter how much gas is in it. Every once in a while it moves to empty and the low fuel light comes on, but the car does not need gas. I had (a buddy at) a shop look at it and from my est. report the fuel pump has recently been replaced and the wires look good. Is there a fuse or something else that could cause my fuel gauge to not operate.

Does the fuel gauge ever drop to below E with ignition to off position or does it stay on full even with key out of ignition?

Yes, (the fuel gauge does drop to below E with ignition to off position).

Then I would say it is not a fuel gauge problem related to the Instrument Panel Cluster or a fuse. It sounds more like the fuel level sender and float is not working properly.

Have you removed the access cover in the trunk behind the rear passenger seat to see if the connector is on tight? 7 nuts hold the cover on. Just set aside the sound deadening and carpeting material. The sensor and fuel pump share the same connector which you will see at the top of the fuel tank.

A lot of times when the fuel pump pod is replaced the fuel level sensor and float may get damaged if the person doing the work is careless. Most fuel gauge problems on a Regal is the level sensor which can be replaced without having the replace the complete fuel pump pod which is expensive.

Here is the fuel pump pod with level sensor/float (bottom) from a '99 Regal LS:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/lizzywiz/fuelsender.jpg