Fuel Guage not working?

[CarreraGTSCS]

Here's one that I haven't found a conclusive answer for in my searches here. I replaced the entire fuel pump assembly on my '98 Mountaineer (11/97 build date) a couple of weeks ago. After draining the tank to do the pump work I put 5 gallons of gas in the tank. The guage went to about 1/4 of a tank which seemed to be reasonable. Yesterday night I filled the tank and the guage went past full and has stayed there. I've put about 40 miles on it so I expect that I've used more than a couple of gallons. Should the guage read empty when the key is off? Mine drops to around 3/4 of a tank.

I don't want to get stuck and I have no sense yet of how far I can go on a tank of fuel.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[VaxHunter]

My Explorer does this sometimes i ignore it. It also will tell me I'm almost empty then go back to almost 1/4 of a tank after driving for a mile. Does yours get stuck while its on or only when its off?

 

[RickOTR]

Mine does the same thing until I have about 90 miles on it then that's when I start to see the needle start to move.

 

[CarreraGTSCS]

Thanks guys. Mine seems to be doing what Rick's does. It dropped to 3/4 of a tank after about 80 miles.

New issue: The hood release is stuck. Can't open the hood! I lubed the mechanism pretty good since it was stuck when I got it.

 

[koda2000]

Thanks guys. Mine seems to be doing what Rick's does. It dropped to 3/4 of a tank after about 80 miles.

New issue: The hood release is stuck. Can't open the hood! I lubed the mechanism pretty good since it was stuck when I got it.

start by checking the metal bracket part of the release handle. if the hood latch needed to be lubed in the past and wasn't, forcing the release handle can bend the metal part where the cable attaches. once the bracket is bent the cable doesn't get pulled to it's full extent, thereby not releasing the latch. if the release looks ok, have someone push down on the hood while you pull the release handle to see if that helps. if so, try lowering the hood stops a little to take the tension of the release mech.

 

[koda2000]

Re your fuel sender: Perhaps the arm on the sender is slightly bent. That's what the float is attached to on one end and what controls the sweep of the sender on the other. If this rod gets bent during shipping/handling, or at any other point (including during installation) it will give an inaccurate reading. I've had this happen on other vehicles.

When I recently installed a new fuel pump on my Mountaineer, I had completely emptied the tank. After reinstallation I put 2 gallons in and drove a mile to the gas station, where I added exactly 10 more gallons. I have a 24 gallon tank, and after adding the 10 gallons, the gauge showed exactly 1/2 tank on level ground. It doesn't get any more accurate than that.

if you sender arm is bent downward just a little, it will behave as you are describing (not coming off of FULL until some of the fuel is used). In any event, most fuel gauges will act this way on most vehicles. The more important reading is on the EMPTY end.

 

[CarreraGTSCS]

I'm going to let it get down to 1/4 then fill it to calculate fuel use and accuracy. As you say, as long as it's accurate around empty it'll be ok.