guage question

[MiZZ]

Helo everyone, this is my first actual question thread on here., I haven't had the need to post because of all the great info found with a search! anyways, I'm from jeepforum (my other ride is a jeep cherokee chief XJ) and I know how annoying it is when theres continuous post about the same questions by nOObs!! ... so lets just say i'm a nOOb to explorers but not to forums haha... so that being said, I used the search for my question, came up with some results but nothing really explaining my problem, so here goes...

recently bought my explorer off it's original owner, The gas guage is WACKY!!! sometimes it will be on Empty, sometimes it will be on Full.... and then sometimes, if your on a hill it'll be in the middle (half a tank)... I don't think the float is flooded with gas sinking it to the bottom, because sometimes it's FULL. on hills it's half (not always, but usualy)..

now i've had many cars with this problem, not really the biggest deal in the world but more or less it is annoying! I use my trip odometer to calculate what i have left and I always keep plenty in there but honestly i'd like to have my gas guage work!

So hearing how wacky it is, is there any suggestions? something i should check? I'm a nOOb to explorers but have a decent amount of experience with other vehicles so feel free to be technical....to a point LOL

Thanks and great site!

-Mike

 

[1shot]

On older gas tank sending units the reostat and points wear out. basically a winding of wire and a light metal "finger" that rotates across the reostat as the float and arm deflect to different angles. Ive never had a problem with my Explorer or taken one out so i dont know how they are built. But with older cars you can remove the sending unit and rebuild/replace it in minutes...

 

[MiZZ]

thanks for the reply! I may be wrong but isn't the sending unit located inside the fuel tank? so how would I go about removing, replacing/rebuilding it in minutes? as good as that sounds... having dropped the tank in my jeep that alone is definetly a 'little' harder than a few minute job! lol... unless the fuel tank on these trucks has some sort of quick release haha.

unless you're reffering to the overall time it would take after the tank is dropped? or if on these trucks it's external than my mistake!

please fill me in more! any certain write ups or links I should reffer to?


thanks again,
Mike

 

[shamaal]

Yes, the sending unit is in the tank along with the pump. Next to a bad sending unit, the most common cause is corrosion of the wires going to the sending unit connector. Do some searches, ask some questions.

You may consider getting a Haynes also.

 

[1shot]

okay more gas gauge answers/questions

Common sense. Gauge is basically a voltmeter. If it is "wacky" or intermittant - then suspect bad or loose connections.

In some cars you can actually remove sending unit in 2 or 3 minutes, for example a mid 90's Nissan 300Z, remove a small round panel in trunk and the sending unit comes out in 2 seconds.

In many vehicles, remove the tank from the car and the sending unit comes out in just a few minutes, so removing the tank is the big job.

In many newer vehicles the gas "pump" and sending unit are one and the same. I believe all Explorers are like this, 1 unit.

In your Explorer, ground problems and wiring problems external to the tank need to be eliminated first, including all grounds, wires, and gauge. Then if you still get eratic readings, the sending unit from the tank may be the final and last cause.

 

[MiZZ]

thanks for the replys, going to do some wire tracing and testing tomorrow!!

about the haynes manual... it's already on the way! I actually have a 'mini library' of haynes, chitons, FSMs from various cars i've owned over the past few years so another one to the collection shouldn't hurt HAHA!

thanks again and sorry if the questions been asked, like i said I searched with results but nothing really explaining my particular situation.

will update with results of the wire testing.

thanks for the advice,

-Mike