Gas gauge broke?!

[Mason_Storm]

So last night I ran my '02 Explorer until the 'Check Gauge' light came on indicating I'm almost out of gas. Up to that point the gauge was working perfectly. I then pulled into the gas station and put about 10 gallons in, got in and started it up but the gauge still read empty and the 'check gauge' light was still on.

I decided to continue driving thinking maybe it would just take a minute or two for the gauge to gradually go up. It didn't so I pulled over and shut off the truck and restarted it. Upon restarting the gauge finally moved but only slightly showing I have 1/8 of a tank and the 'check gauge' light disappeared. I shut off and restarted a couple more times but got no additional movement out of the gauge.

Has anyone ever had this happen and do you have any suggestions besides taking it to the dealer.

Thanks,
Mason

 

[abarkl]

Perhaps give it more time to respond if you left any doors open and/or the keys in the ignition. Also, search the forums as this is a known issue.

 

[misconceived]

Yeah man, search the threads.

Happened to me once.
I needed my keys because of my speedpass and my doors are always closed. Just another oddity of the Explorer I guess.

 

[aspitaletto]

Ive had this exact problem with my 05' XLT

turns out that the sender unit needed to be replaced. the Tech told me that it was because of low quality gas containing too much sulfer.

i thought he was insane, BUT, i changed gas brands, and its been working perfectly ever since.


...now that i said this, im sure ill break

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

I think it was a coincidence, rather than a gasoline problem. I had it happen on mine too, and after driving about an hour, the gauge would slowly crawl up to the full mark. What I've learned is once in a while this system goes into "slosh" mode when shut off, and it takes around 40 minutes of "key on" time for the gauge to read correctly. Mine did it once and it hasn't happened since. I have never used gasoline in my Explorer...It gets E85 ethanol fuel every fillup, so I'd have a hard time believing that it was fuel related.

 

[Mason_Storm]

Next day my gauge works fine now.

 

[Daggers]

i topped off from empty didnt over fill or leave the keys in the ignition and now my gauge is stuck on empty...could it be my anti slosh mod. or sending unit....i read in other threads it could be that there is a bad ground wire to the sending unit?
94 explorer 4x4 xlt 222xxx miles