Fuel Gauge Going Haywire

[JRodGunny]

Morning! I recently bought a 99 Tahoe 4-door 4WD. It had 4 12-inch subs, and all sorts of amps and capacitors. I yanked out the noisy stuff. But here's my question. When I was test driving it, the fuel gauge was moving... when I started it, it was full... as I pulled out of the lot, it was at quarter tank... when I parked it, it was at half tank. The dealer told me that all the bass rattled the "sensor", and that removing the bass would fix the problem. No Luck.

So now, every time I get in and start up, it's reading something different. Is this a anyone know if the dealer was right? And/or how to fix it?

Love the forum, though. I've been perusing it for a couple weeks. This is gonna be fun to work on and play with

 

[07Burb]

I'm 99% sure the dealer has no idea what they are talking about and were just blowing smoke to get you to buy the vehicle.

With that said it could be minor or major.

1. Are you having any other electrical issues of gauges acting funny? If so it could be your alternator.
2. It could be the that fuel pump was recently replaced and the sensor not re-calibrated correctly by who ever did the work.
3. It could be that the sensor is toast and needs to be replaced.

There could be other troubleshooting steps to take but if it was me those would be the first 3 steps I'd take...

 

[the 18th letter]

My fuel gauge sensor has been twitching like a 'crackhead' for the past 2 years, but it's more or less accurate. (I don't let it get down past a 1/4 tank anymore since my fuel pump replacement 3 years ago since it's no longer my DD.) Problem started after after a dead battery and a jump. No associated problems since/yet....

 

[justinp95]

My fuel gauge sensor has been twitching like a 'crackhead' for the past 2 years, but it's more or less accurate. (I don't let it get down past a 1/4 tank anymore since my fuel pump replacement 3 years ago since it's no longer my DD.) Problem started after after a dead battery and a jump. No associated problems since/yet....

Mine does this and varies sometimes a good bit but goes back to normal.

 

[OneSLICKhoe]

mine did the exact same thing til I replaced the fuel pump..the float was bad.change the pump.

 

[JRodGunny]

Thanks!

Thanks 07! That's definitely a good path to head down. The rest of the gauges are all working fine. He said they replaced the water and fuel pump, so the calibration sounds like a likely issue. Not very excited that it seems to be a common issue that others are having. Hopefully I'll get'er fixed up.

 

[07Burb]

The calibration issue is fairly common cuz the shops often don't do it correctly.

 

[Korn]

How do you recalibrate it, I have a 98 yukon that does the same thing. I am in the process of taking out the aftermarket pump and putting in an acdelco pump.

 

[SunlitComet]

Nothing in the 1999 models about calibrating the sender in the service manual other than the fact that it goes thru the PCM for evaporation emissions control purposes and has it own DTC's. And that if you have the square connector on your pump/sender assembly it should be replaced when the assembly fails with a different type because of repetitive failures. Where did you come about this info?