fuel gauge not working! advise to get it working again?

red dodge2

red dodge2

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Feb 12, 2008
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well my fuel gauge reads empty and i have a 3/4 tank of fuel in it. i went to the farm after work and stayed there for about an hour and got back in to drive home, well when i got in and started the truck up, my fuel light came on and the gauge reads empty. what do i need to check or do to get it working again? any help or advise it greatly appreciated.
 
sending unit in the tank is bad... It's happened to damn near everyone... Some like to drop the tank.. I prefer to have 3 buddies help me lift the bed off..
 
thats what i was thinking. would it go out just like that though? no signs of showing its bad and then all the sudden......it dont work anymore.
 
Your talking about an 8 year old electronic device the spends its life covered in diesel.....it surprises me they dont just explode.
 
^^hahaha......your right there. so i need to get a new sending unit? how much do those run me and where can i find them at?
 
The floats in the tank deteriorate overtime also and cause them to read off. Mine is empty now by 3/8 tank. The fix is to swap the foam float with a new float made out of a material that is dissolved by diesel. I found a thread somewhere were they had a great write up on this fix... Not sure if it was here or Pirate4x4 or where.
 
PM user Snedge, he can hook you up with the sending unit only rather than the entire assembly most parts folks will try to sell you, from there it's pretty simple to replace just the sending unit.
 
today on my way to work which is about 20min, it says that i got a 1/4 tank of fuel and i have 3/4. so does that mean that the unit is good just that there might be a faulty connection somewhere?

on another note....to fix my problem with running out of fuel at 1/8 tank, im thinking about one of those hallmann sumps. they pretty good?
 
The sumps are great, and plan to replace the sending unit, they do not fix themselves, about $40.
 
the sending unit is still bad..

I'd love to have one of those sumps.. but I can't sacrifice all that ground clearance.. I'd rip that thing off in a heartbeat.
 
I've havent had a fuel gauge in over a year. I just know how many miles mine will run on a tank of fuel and Im just to lazy to drop the tank to fix it.
 
Billysgoat said:
PM user Snedge, he can hook you up with the sending unit only rather than the entire assembly most parts folks will try to sell you, from there it's pretty simple to replace just the sending unit.
Click to expand...

I didnt think that you could just change the sending unit, I thought that you have to replace the hole canister. I know when I droped my tank on my 01 and my dads 98.5 you had to replace the own unit unlike my old 91.5 where I could just replace the fuel level sending unit.
 
The easy way to fix the sending unit on an old beater truck is to cut a hole in the bed, then its a ten minute job to unscrew the ring that holds the fuel canister, unhook the fuel lines, remove the canister, unbolt the sending unit, it's just two screws, install a new sending unit float arm assembly, and reinstall everything. For the hole in the bed, either weld it back, bolt a cover plate over it, or leave the hole.


Fuel003.jpg
 
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explosives87 said:
I didnt think that you could just change the sending unit, I thought that you have to replace the hole canister. I know when I droped my tank on my 01 and my dads 98.5 you had to replace the own unit unlike my old 91.5 where I could just replace the fuel level sending unit.
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten around to actually doing it yet, but I have just the sending unit for my 01 sitting in a box waiting on me to get un-lazy LOL
 
My sending unit died almost a year ago. Now I just fill the tank full and
reset my trip meter. When I get to 300 miles I get fuel.:lolly:
 
Billysgoat said:
I haven't gotten around to actually doing it yet, but I have just the sending unit for my 01 sitting in a box waiting on me to get un-lazy LOL
Click to expand...

Post pictures when you get around to doing it, I would like to know how you replace just the sending unit insted of the entire canister.
 
Mine is about 1/8 tank off. So when it says I'm at an 1/8 I'm really actually empty. Meh. It's a 30min job to drop the tank and pull the unit out while drinking a beer. I'm just to cheap to buy the dang thing.
 
i took the bed off tonight and pulled the cansister out, the float was broke off and floating around. i will take some pics tomm and try n post them up.
 
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