erratic fuel gauge

[happy s-10]

Anybody have problems with their fuel gauge jumping back and forth between full and empty erratically?

Mine will flip back and forth at various times when I'm driving, but it always reads full or empty and is never right.

I've followed the wires back looking for a ground, didn't see anything obvious. I also pulled the connector off at the tank and reconnected, with no luck.

Help?!?!

99 S-10 ZR2

[hakogen]

is your MIL on?

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by happy s-10

Anybody have problems with their fuel gauge jumping back and forth between full and empty erratically?

Mine will flip back and forth at various times when I'm driving, but it always reads full or empty and is never right.

I've followed the wires back looking for a ground, didn't see anything obvious. I also pulled the connector off at the tank and reconnected, with no luck.

Help?!?!

99 S-10 ZR2

What is going on is that the level sensor has a bad spot in it and is causing the gauge to read erratically.
Replacing the level sensor will cure this problem.

[rlith]

sounds like a bad sending unit..

[happy s-10]

About the comment about the MIL being on....I'm not familiar with that.

I'm assuming the level indicator is with the fuel pump? Is that right? Is this the same thing as the sending unit?

I've never messed with any of this stuff, so it's new to me.

Thanks for the replies

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by happy s-10

About the comment about the MIL being on....I'm not familiar with that.

I'm assuming the level indicator is with the fuel pump? Is that right? Is this the same thing as the sending unit?

I've never messed with any of this stuff, so it's new to me.

Thanks for the replies

I wouldn't worry about the MIL..also known as the Service Engine Soon light.
The MIL will not illuminate for a faulty fuel level sensor.

The level sensor (aka sending unit) is located in the fuel tank with the pump.

[happy s-10]

Originally Posted by GMMerlin

I wouldn't worry about the MIL..also known as the Service Engine Soon light.
The MIL will not illuminate for a faulty fuel level sensor.

The level sensor (aka sending unit) is located in the fuel tank with the pump.

Can I just replace the sending unit then, or do I have to do the whole pump?

thx-chris

[rlith]

you should be able to just change the sending unit...Pump is seperate

[Yellow_X10]

Check to see if your truck is under recall for this problem. I had a 2000 S10 Blazer that did the same thing. They fixed it as a warranty issue last year, but they said Chevy was supposed to do a recall on the S-10's for the same reason. It's a fuel relay problem. But just in case, here's the symptoms I had.... It said it was full most of the time and then would drop to below empty and the light would come on. If I rocked back and forth in the truck, it jumped back to full. I have since moved on to a newer truck but I still stand by my S-10s.

[hakogen]

merlin, can you help with a little problem i ahve along the same lines? i ahve an 01, 2.2 2wd 5speed. and my mil comes on and the fault codes are p0178, p0179. thats fuel composition sensor circuit high/low input. can you translate this to a specific problem? it runs fine, its got abuot 75k hwy miles on it, replaced the clutch (didnt blow, making throwout bearing type racket) i keep up on the oil and lube stuff, and im a poor college kid. any help would be of great favor. thanks.

[civic_104]

i have the same problem with my civic, my fuel indicator goes up and down a bit, but not from empty to full, and i ask around, it could be bad ground or could be faulty floating thing inside the fuel tank.