[meello]

Hey all -

I've got a problem with my fuel gauge. A short while ago, I struck something on the highway that punctured my fuel tank. I took it to the nearest shop (Midas) and subsequently had the fuel tank replaced. The tank itself was replaced with a used tank from another 99 Taurus, although the shop said that they put my original fuel-sending internals back inside the used tank. The car is a 99 SE w/6Cyl DOHC (Duratec).

Now, however, the fuel gauge is off. When I fill it up at the gas station, I fill it until the pump shuts off as I normally would. The fuel gauge generally only reads about 7/8 full now (instead of totally full). In fact, the only way to make it read full is to top off the tank to the point of having fuel spilling back out. Then, the gauge level seems to drop quickly to the 3/4 mark. Next, it then proceeds normally down to about 1/4. However, the 'low fuel' light now comes on when I've used about 10 gallons (used to come on after 13 gallons used).

In summary, the gauge is weird at the top, normal in the middle, and weird at the bottom.

Does anyone have any idea why the gauge is acting like this? Could it have been damaged by a pressure imbalance when the tank was punctured? Could the shop have de-calibrated it when they removed and reinstalled the tank internals?

Thanks in advance for any insight!
Bryan

 

[maceslin]

Sounds like the flaot on the fuel sending unit is prevented from going alll the way up or it has been improperly mounted in the "new" tank

 

[dant98]

I had my tank, pump, and sending unit replaced from a junk yard when I dented mine on my '00. My guage now hangs below 1/4 tank and won't register anything below that. If there was a way to make sure they used your original sender, I'd suggest it.

Do you know for certain that they didn't replace your standard tank with a high capacity tank or vise versa?

 

[rmppod]

Fuel Gauge does not track

I am driving a 2000 Sable with a 3.0L DOHC V6 engine, non fuel flex, with 165,000 mi. Recently, I have replaced the fuel pump. My symptoms are similar to the other posts. When I fill the tank, the fuel gauge registers short of 3/4 full. When the low fuel light comes on, it takes only 10 gals to fill up as compared to 12 to 13 gals before the pump was replaced. Before the next fill-up, I dropped and drained the tank to check the float and sending unit of the new pump. The new pump, Spectra Premium SP2283M Fuel Pump Module, I purchased indicated it was a direct replacement for my Sable and 16 gal tank. I monitored the resistance between the sending wires at the plug and turned the tank from upright to upside down. As well as I can remember the resistance range was from approximately 10 Ohms to 168 Ohms which was in line with the SP2283M specs. Is there any other problem that would cause this outside of the fuel pump sending unit?