gas gauge? has this happend to you

[204beast]

well i just noticed this the other day i filled my tank (5o bucks worth) so not really filled,close but not fully.
so the gas gauge needle was past full mark and the i drove for a bit and then the needle was before the full mark prolly 1/4 to full which is normal cause i only put $50 in.
and the later that evening it was dead on the full mark im like WTF is going on?
is there a way i can check if may gauges are screwed up cause i dont want it to screw up and say it has gas in it when i have the family and really it doesnt

[amigo-2k]

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=671658

[204beast]

well my engine light is not on so how do i really know its that seems to work fine just kidda weird,that i know that its no full but it says its full or some what,i just dont wanna waste money on a part i dont need

[99 Fronty]

Unfortunately you have to drop the tank and run the fuel level sender through its range to check the operation. You may find that either:-
a) the tiny wiper blades on the fuel level sender are worn off or
b) the resistor track on the fuel level sender has a build-up of fuel varnish and with a bit of delicate cleaning and slight re-tension of the wiper blades you can get it to work properly. (This happened to me).

As a first strike you could run a dose of injector cleaner through your tank if you have not done so for a long time. There is a remote chance this will clean up the sender enough to work properly.

Andrew.

[Gizmo42]

I never got a CEL when my sender was bad. Mine worked different then yours though. Would read full for about 20 miles then drop to empty. Sometimes it would go up a little.

Here are some pics I took of the old FSU compared to the new one. You can see how the 'wipers' that 99 Fronty was talking about have worn on the old one.

[99 Fronty]

I am very pleased to see these pictures Dave. The reason is that I imported a new sender unit, and to cut a long story short, could not get it to work and ended up fixing the old one as described earlier.

The interesting thing about your photos is:-
a) the wipers on mine were of a brass coloured material and had not worn at all.
b) both my resistance tracks were segmented, the inside one with segments about twice as wide as the outside.

My vehicle is also a 99 build, so this proved that for whatever reason, export vehicles were shipped with different parts to domestic US. I spoke to my dealer (Holden) about recalibration also. They don't have this option through the Holden system, and told me when they fit a new fuel pump/sender they don't do a recalibration. So the spare parts here must also be different to the US.

In a twisted sort of way this makes me feel better about my wasted effort.

Also, your unit shows no sign of varnish so you either dose your fuel regularly, or this is not an issue with fuel in the US.

Andrew.

[Gizmo42]

I did mine shortly after I bought it (was bad when I bought it) so dont know what the previous owners did. However I only buy good quality gas, no cheap stuff in my vehicles so should keep things clean. The problem with them here was determined to be high sulfer content in the gas which reacted with the material of the contacts and caused them to wear really fast. New EPA standards have significantly reduced the sulfer content in the gas so should not be a problem again here.