Bouncy Bouncy...

[Infinitrium]

My fuel gauge seems to be quite inaccurate when I'm low on gas, it'll bounce around from the bottom of the gauge, then sometimes it'll peg the needle straight up. What's the deal? Kinda makes it hard to guess how much fuel is in the tank like that.

[jsgold]

Typical GM problem on many cars. Not sure if you can do anything about it to be honest. As an owner of many GM cars and trucks over the years I have seen a lot of this. The real problem is when your gauge is off say, 1/4 tank causing you to run out of gas and maybe burn up a fuel pump. If yours does this on level road and is all over the place while sitting I would think you have problem in the tank such as a poor connection or sender unit. But if it does this only when driving, well, that is pretty much normal. Best to keep it filled as much as possible...

[Slade901]

Your fuel sender is bad like they said. If you decide to replace the fuel sender, replace the fuel pump as well.

However, if you decide to not replace it. Check your vehicle specs for Miles for a full tank of gas. Let us say, your vehicle has 300 miles for a full tank of gas, then you would fill up the gas tank to full after driving for 225 miles since the last fill up.

Even if you have a working fuel sender, you must fill up the gas tank when you reach 1/4 of your gas tank to minimize fuel pump burn out.

[victimizati0n]

havent you guys ever thought that the float was going up and down cuz of the hills you are on?

When you go up a steep hill it will say your tank is empty, but when you do down a hill it will say that your tank is full....

[jsgold]

Yes, of course. The problem (if it is one) is that GM's just seem to bounce around a bit more when getting down to 1/4 or so. No big deal, just annoying. If it is doing this on level ground though (post does not say..) then maybe another problem. Best plan is to keep 1/2 tank or more fuel anyway as you can loose a pump, and sometimes these gauges aren't totally accurate. My old Corsica if off somewhere between 1/8 - 1/4 tank.

[Infinitrium]

Originally Posted by victimizati0n

havent you guys ever thought that the float was going up and down cuz of the hills you are on?

When you go up a steep hill it will say your tank is empty, but when you do down a hill it will say that your tank is full....

Yes, and in this case, I'm pretty sure this isn't the problem. I mean, the gauge would go from dead empty to pegging the needle straight up on the tiniest little incline, and even on flat ground! It's not an elevation issue.