Fuel Gauge failed today (1 Viewer)

[HWY22]

As I was driving up Teton Pass this morning, I noticed that my gauge was dropping noticeably. I pulled over to check any leaks and could not find or sniff one out. By the time I got to the other side (11 miles) it was all the way down with the low fuel light on.

I was only able to put 4 gals and it was full. Any tips on what to look at first? Thanks.

 

[Jrod]

How cold was it outside? My 100 will do the same thing at near freezing temps. I've been told its the float on the fuel pump.

 

[HWY22]

How cold was it outside? My 100 will do the same thing at near freezing temps. I've been told its the float on the fuel pump.

It was not that cold. Around 30F. The last 2-3 weeks, we were consistently dipping double digits below 0 and no problems then. Now that it warmed up, this happens...

 

[North100]

I just repaired my fuel gauge yesterday after about a year of it being flaky - working intermittently, and dropping to empty faster than fuel is being used. It was not the sender - which I had replaced (note, the FSM has errors in the testing description). It was a broken wire at a connector clipped to the inboard side of the left rocker panel, midway along the left rear passenger door opening. This connector is not shown in the wiring diagram or anywhere in the FSM. It is in harms way of rocks/gravel and one wire was severed almost flush with the back connecter.

 

[semlin]

just a bump to say i have this problem and will now be checking north100's solution.

weirdly i had a problem with wire damage at exactly the same connector plug location on my 80 series a couple of years ago killing my fuel pump. i know exactly where it is.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Throw up a pic of where it is if you get a chance to snap one during your investigation.

 

[nissanh]

Did you keep the ignition in ON position without engine running? I once had this issue after turning the ignition to on just to open the sunroof. After a day or two the gauge went back to normal. Just drive for few days and see what happens.

 

[semlin]

Did you keep the ignition in ON position without engine running? I once had this issue after turning the ignition to on just to open the sunroof. After a day or two the gauge went back to normal. Just drive for few days and see what happens.

i had been driving the car for over two hours. i deliberately did not stop the car when i pulled over because i was going to check for fuel leaks while running. however, when i stepped out the car and turned around to check again the fuel gauge had already started recovering.

wiring damage affecting the resistance of the sender signal makes perfect sense as an explanation.