Gas gauge flutters

[bhw33191]

My caprice isnt on the road yet because the tires are too dry rotted and im waiting for some new rims. But when i drove the car the ten minutes to my house" i noticed the gas guage would flutter around if i went up or down a hill. Im not sure if this is from the car not being on the road or what but all i know is that its pretty annoying. So does anybody know how to fix this because i dont want to be stranded once i do get this baby on the road.

[PeteA216]

The needle will move when you go around turns, up and down hills and during braking, thats perfectly normal. But if it is fluttering (flying back and fourth quickly) that could indicate a poorly grounded fuel guage or a bad connection to the sending unit. The very worst case scenario is a bad sending unit, but fairly unlikely.

[mike561]

Yeah like pete said ours moves around slowly in motion but if its moving sharply than thats an electrical issue. looks nice by the way

[xXxHawkxXx]

Originally Posted by bhw33191

My caprice isnt on the road yet because the tires are too dry rotted and im waiting for some new rims. But when i drove the car the ten minutes to my house" i noticed the gas guage would flutter around if i went up or down a hill. Im not sure if this is from the car not being on the road or what but all i know is that its pretty annoying. So does anybody know how to fix this because i dont want to be stranded once i do get this baby on the road.

Mine always does it when I have less than 1/4 of a tank left. Anytime I turn or, like you said go up or down a hill, it will sway to all the way empty. Once I steady the car, it reads the actual fuel level.

I think that when there is more room for the gas to swish around in the tank, the fuel moves around and there is nothing to read while the car is not steady and level.

[mike561]

what i'd really like is to get the type that the newer cars have where it doesnt move at all, not to get off topic but what would be involved in doing that, newer sending unit or more?

[PeteA216]

I think theres a buffer like my ATV has that delays gauge movement until its "sure" that the fuel level is at that position.

[mike561]

My pontiac grand prix would never move around, actually i could run that thing for like 40 miles while it was still all the way to the "E" i know it was accurate too.

[beat88ls]

doesn't it do that because the tank has no baffles? my 83 does it and my 88 did it too. its normal

[bhw33191]

Originally Posted by beat88ls

doesn't it do that because the tank has no baffles? my 83 does it and my 88 did it too. its normal

Yeah i figured it was the problem that theres no baffles too but i find it slightly odd that its normal for the gauge to move around the way it does. It moves slowly but not sharp which is ok but i still find it annoying. Not to get off topic but my father has a 65 Ford econoline "looks like the VW bus" and its gauge doesnt move at all around turns and hills. I believe the tank thats in it actually does have baffles but im not sure so maybe thats why. I still find it odd that a newer car would have this fluttering problem. I guess i'll just deal with it for now...

[PeteA216]

A 24 year old car isnt exactly considered newer lol. These tanks do have baffolding though, I know for sure because I had to cut mine in half when disposing of it because of a leak. I believe I remember reading something about a capacitor or something along the lines of that, which would hold the voltage going to the gauge longer so the gauge wouldn't move around. Some cars have it and some don't, all newer cars do now because people would always complain about moving gauges, like bouncing oil pressure gauges and what appeared to be a rough idle according to the tachometer. Gauges now are also digitally controlled as well, there's no longer mechanical oil pressure gauges and speedometer cables so in most cases changes in gauge readings are more gradual and smooth than older, more direct and/or mechanical gauges.

[bhw33191]

yeah i figured someone would mention how i said the car was newer. What i meant was that the 83 caprice is a lot newer "compared to" to 65 econoline. that brings me to wonder why the guage in the 65 doesnt flutter. Im pretty sure there is no electronic device to lessen the fluttering as in that van everything about it is primative. So this puzzles me why chevy couldnt add this little feature in. Oh well...i have problems much bigger than this so i'll jsut deal with it for now.