Crazy Fuel Gauge

[fprodget]

My fuel gauge has been acting erratic for that last month or so. I have 63000 miles on my V6 X.

Sometimes when I fill the tank the gauge will go from where is was, say around 1/4 of a tank, to totally empty, even though I just filled the tank full. Then as I drive, some trips it will read totally full or some trips totally empty. The last couple of weeks it is now only reading totally full or totally empty. Sometimes it will go from totally full to totally empty while driving down the road.

I have heard of the sulfur build ups that can cause the problem and have run two bottles of Chevron Techroline thru my tank.

I am now at my dealer and they say it needs a new sending unit, but it can only be replaced with a new fuelpump as a total assembly - the part costing 313 bucks plus 3.5 hours of labor.

Does anyone out there know if it is true that you can only replace the fuel pump/sending or can I replace my sending unit by itself?

I know Fast Parts Network shows a part number for the sending unit only.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Bottomlesspit]

fprodget,
Interesting...I just had to replace my sending unit in my boat this past weekend. Not the worst job, but I have definitely had jobs I preferred doing more!
I wouldn't be surprised if Ford did make it an all-in-one device, but I sure hope they didn't.
When I am faced with these situations I usually go to a Ford parts counter and have them print me out the problem areas line drawing. They really help me "see" the area better, along with listing the individual parts in there! I don't hesitate to ask them about what parts are available..matter of fact, that's usually the first thing they do, they print the drawings out and I point to the problem part. The parts guy then tells me the good or bad news about availability.
Hope you get your answers soon. Sorry I can't be of real help.
Ken

 

[BrooklynBay]

Sometimes it's just the float, which is a cheap part. I bought a sending unit with a fuel pump off of somebody on EBay (used). AutoZone sells it as a set for around $120. The dealer always charges more for everything.

 

[blitzk]

Sometimes when I fill my tank full from empty it takes FOREVER to show a full tank... usally it goes from 0 to 1/4-1/2 tank quick, but then from 1/2 to full takes like 10 mins sometimes.

 

[fprodget]

Sometimes when I fill my tank full from empty it takes FOREVER to show a full tank... usally it goes from 0 to 1/4-1/2 tank quick, but then from 1/2 to full takes like 10 mins sometimes.

Mine did that a couple of months back, Now it is either all the way full or all the way empty with the check gage light lit. There is no in between regardless of how much fuel is in the tank. I now keep track of the gas in the tank using my trip odometer. Just this morning, I put 11 gallons in it when it was reading FULL. About a quarter of a mile down the road from the gas station, it immediately dropped to reading totally empty!

I am going to replace the sending unit, I just need to know if it is only able to be replaced with a new pump as a complete assembly, or can I replace just the sending unit.