Fuel gauge not working

[Punjab]

Long time reader, first time poster.

I have a '94 Limited with 130k. The fuel gauge quit working some time ago but not completely. When I start it up the gauge goes all the way to full and then over the course of my drive slowly drops all the way to empty. I was told that my problem is the fuel sender and not the gauge itself. Is there anyway I can test this myself to be positive before I go buying replacement parts?
Aside from tanking the gas tank out and replacing the fuel sender, is there anything else involved that I might not be able to do in my driveway at home?

It's getting annoying to have to track my mileage just to make sure I don't run out of gas.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeLitt3810]

most of the time it's the float. when mine first went it would read actual fule sometimes and finally it's pegged to the E i just use the trip meter to know when to fill up.. the float runs about 18$ at a dealer the ring for the sending unit in in all chain automotive stores for around 5$ in the help/dorman section. I just don't feel like droping my tank till the pump goes..

mine usually takes 10 gal every 100 miles..

 

[Punjab]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'm usually getting a little over 300 miles to the tank so I fill up at the 300 mark.
I figure it will be a somewhat daunting task to drop the tank and I don't really think I want to cut a whole in the floor to get to it from the top. So once the weather is nicer I'll probably try to tackle this.

 

[glenn99]

I'll be interested to know what your results are when/if you drop the tank and change the float. I was given a 92 explorer which had sat for about 3 years unused but one of the problems it had before it was abandoned was exactly what you describe. I had to replace the fuel pump anyway because it wasn't working (turned out to be a ball of rust when I got it out) and figured that would probably fix the gauge problem at the same time. No dice, so the problem is still exactly what you describe.

For the last couple years I've just been using the trip meter to figure out when to fill up but I've always wondered if I had the amazing misfortune to install a new fuel pump which happened to have a bad float.

By the way, the float on the old fuel pump was holed and could have caused the original problem or it could have rusted away like the pump as it sat unused. The one I put in was brand new and appeared ok to me. At any rate, I've still got the fuel gauge problem and I think it might be an electrical problem, not the float. Haven't had the energy to tackle tracing a possible electrical problem.

Truck runs now though!