Fuel gauge inaccurate

[Mike OConnor]

Ok, it's a 2004 and my gauge reads 1/4 tank when empty. I've been told that the sender is part of the fuel pump etc.

May seem like a dumb question, but would it be easier to remove the bed to get to the tank if that is possible? Or, is that a dumb way to go?



Mike

 

[EddieS'04]

No you have to drop the tank. Access to the pump and sender is under part of the frame.

If you left the trac running on fillup. It can make it read wrong for the next couple of fillups.

 

[Steve McKellop]

Eddie is correct. Removing the bed is the easy way on F150's/etc but you have to drop the tank on a Trac.:angry:

My Trac has the worst case of fuel gauge float I've seen since my old 70 Monte Carlo.:sad:

 

[Richard L]

Mike,

I agree with Eddie. I don't know if it's worth dropping the tank to change the sender since the fuel gauge/sender are known to be inaccurate even when they are working right. Part of the problem is that when you are driving up hill or down hill the gauge can reading can change by a 1/4 tank or more??? I think it is because the tank is a long rectangular box mounted length-wise front to back. That even causes problems when parked on a slight side to side angle?



Next time make sure you are on flat level ground and that your truck suspension is sitting level to get a fuel reading. It is not uncommon for the early Sport Trac suspensions to sag a bit to the driver's side, and if you have done anything to raise or lower the truck may have tilted the body slightly front to back or side to side.



...Rich

 

[Steve McKellop]

The instrument cluster has an "anti-slosh" circuit in it but they must go bad quite often. Not worth it to me to replace that until I need to do other cluster maintenance.

 

[Richard L]

Steve M,

If the Anti-slosh circuit in the dash panel goes bad, it should indicate that the tank is always empty (even when full) and you will trigger the "Low Fuel" light to come on, and stay on.



Mike indicated that when his fuel gauge reads 1/4 tank, he may actually be on or near empty?? I don't know if he ever ran out of fuel or if he put more gas in than he expected to fill his tank? Without knowing exactly what makes him believe his tank is near empty when it says 1/4 tank, it's hard to diagnose the exact problem? It might be just an inacurate gas pump, and inaccurate gauge/sending unit or the vehicle may be on a slight incline that is causing the inaccurate reading....or he might be confused that he can put more than 18-20 gallons (in a 22.5 gallon tank) when the gauge says he has 1/4 tank....Most of us know that you can put more gas in the tanks than what is claimed to be the capacity.



...Rich