Fuel Pump/Gauge?

[Chris04ST]

ok so this has been going on for a while now but my fuel gauge says i have between 3/4 and 1/2 a tank of gas, my trip says ive done 210 miles and it doesn't seem to add up. like after half a tank the needle will drop way faster than it did before. Is this a fuel pump issue or gauge, or something else?

 

[bdmaash]

ok so this has been going on for a while now but my fuel gauge says i have between 3/4 and 1/2 a tank of gas, my trip says ive done 210 miles and it doesn't seem to add up. like after half a tank the needle will drop way faster than it did before. Is this a fuel pump issue or gauge, or something else?

probably the "sender unit" in the fuel pump, try running a bottle or 2 of seafoam through the fuel tank.

 

[Chris04ST]

probably the "sender unit" in the fuel pump, try running a bottle or 2 of seafoam through the fuel tank.

ok, so next time i fill up, just put some in?

 

[bdmaash]

yeah, it's just something to try.
I was having issues starting up the truck, figured maybe the injectors were dirty. Ended up putting in 2 bottles (one with each fill), it didn't fix my starting problem but the gauge started to work properly.

it's a cheap (sort of) experiment, at least the fuel system may get cleaner out of it all even if it doesn't fix the gauge.

The real fix would be to drop the tank, remove fuel pump assembly and replace the sender unit.

 

[600remguy]

Is your Trac a flex fuel (8th digit in vin a "K")? My '04 goes 90 miles from a fill up before the gauge reads in the middle of the full bar on the gauge and I'm afraid to let it go much below a quarter because when my gauge failed, that is where it was, and to be safe I filled up. I put 84 litres in an 85 litre tank:scratch:. I read somewhere the flex fuel sending units have given problems in the past.

 

[Chris04ST]

yeah its a flex fuel, hmm...but yeah i do the same thing, i usually fill up before the last 1/4 because it plummets from there