Fuel gauge going crazy

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rosendo192000

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Today as I was on my way to a town over , I noticed my fuel gauge was acting weird . Durning my drive I looked at my gauge and noticed I had 3/4 of fuel when I knew I only had 3/8 . I got to my destination turned the truck off and turned it back on , all the sudden it went to a 1/4 which seemed actuate . So on my way back home I paid close attention to my gauge and fuel level goes from accurate to zero for a minute and back, but the "low fuel light" never came on (because there was actually plenty of fuel) . No hard starting , rough idel , poor acceleration nor CEL . Do you guys think I should change my pump soon or is it a sensor (is there a sending unit ) that might be fault . If it is the fuel pump should I change anything else while I'm at it ?
 
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edgaranah1

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My guess would be the fuel pump. I had the exact same thing happen to a 01 silverado.


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HOE-N-IT

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My guess would be it is the sending unit located in the tank. I don't know why a fuel pump would affect the gauge but I'm no expert.

GM recommends the use of their Fuel System Treatment Plus if you do not use top tier gas. The "Plus" is an additive that counters the effect of sulfur in the fuel that over time can cause problems with fuel sending units including eratic readings. Do a search on "GM Fuel System Treatment Plus" and you will get loads of information. I use the Techron Plus fuel system cleaner which is the exact same thing only a lot cheaper. Again get the Techron PLUS and not the regular Techron.
 
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rosendo192000

rosendo192000

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Thanks guys , I just thought there was an external sensor that might control the gauge that had gone bad. Ima top of my tank and dump some additive (which I have done in the past ) and hopefully it stabilizes. If not I guess I have no other choice then dropping the tank and switching it out the pump since I believe that the pump and sending unit is one single unit .
 

2007tahoe

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My guess would be it is the sending unit located in the tank. I don't know why a fuel pump would affect the gauge but I'm no expert.
The sending unit and pump are one assy. You can change them separately but if you go threw all the trouble to drop the tank, might as well change the hole assy. My gauge goes crazy also. Gm fuel pumps suck at life so I will just wait for it to go out before I drop the tank for the sending unit. A cheaper assy is about 400.
 
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rosendo192000

rosendo192000

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The sending unit and pump are one assy. You can change them separately but if you go threw all the trouble to drop the tank, might as well change the hole assy. My gauge goes crazy also. Gm fuel pumps suck at life so I will just wait for it to go out before I drop the tank for the sending unit. A cheaper assy is about 400.

Thanks , yea I did see it listed on GMPARTSDirect for 366 .
 

Gzes

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Yep its the fue pump assembly. I waited too my pump blew then swapped everyting
 

edgaranah1

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I wonder why there so damn expensive. They use cheap plastic pretty sure they spend like 20 bucks making them.
 

taktikz

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same thing happened to be recently. strange, but i can't figure it out
 

mike1944

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Earlier Corvettes were very susceptible to this problem.

Experts over on the corvetteforum always recommended you burn a few tankfuls of Chevron with Techron before you start changing stuff out.

Often as not it would it free it up.
 

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