Low Fuel Warning Light

[Ken Crockett]

Driving around yesterday morning in my '04 ST (purchased new just over 9 yrs ago) after filling up on the way to work, the gas gauge suddenly dropped to Below Empty (as if the engine were off) and the Low Fuel warning light came on. Got to work, shut the engine off, and restarted it: no problems starting and all gauges normal. On the way home, it did the same thing, twice (gauge came back to normal once while driving).



I know the ST is prone to electrical gremlins when the battery gets weak, and after driving with this battery for almost 5 years (in HOT AZ summers), I had it checked. Yes, it needed replacing, so I did. But no change in the gas gauge. And it has stopped showing normal readings at all. My mechanic said it could be one of two things: Either the float/sending unit in the tank is/has failed, or the computer in the dashboard is faulty. Can you experts give me your best guess(es) and associated costs I can expect for this repair? I don't really want to drive around not knowing how much fuel I have left. (No, I'm not a mechanic so will have my trusted independent shop do the work.)



Thanks!

 

[Timmy-The-Ute]

I have the same year model as you, and I get the same problem. It is a gasoline problem. It will knock out the readings on your gas gauge for the first 50 miles after a fill up.

 

[EddieS'04]

Never had this problem on my '04. I would tend to lean on the sending unit. Or a bad ground from the sender. Or maybe a bad conection. So GL with the repair.

 

[Bob Markey 2]

I had the same problem with my 2005 ST XLT. I was gassing up and the pump was really slow. Everyone around me noticed how long it took to fill up.



I complained to the store (Hess or BP) manager and finished the slow fill. When I turned the engine back on, the low-fuel light was still on and the gauge read below empty. I had just put in $50-plus in gas.



The manager insisted the gas was in there and gave me his contact info. Sure enough, very, very slowly, the gauge started moving up and within an hour or so was reading at a spot at least close to where it should have been.



I have not had this problem since. 'Any ideas?

 

[Ken Crockett]

bmarkey, I've had that problem in the past, too, and it was due strictly to a weak (dying) battery. Went away when I replaced the OE battery almost 5 yrs ago. I've seen it again over the last few months, so I thought this might be a similar gremlin, but now that I've got a new battery, this is something else.

 

[Bob Markey 2]

My battery is a few years old (Costco). Maybe it's time for a new one, but the truck starts strongly and gives me no other indicators of a bad battery.

 

[Brad Schultz 2]

Is it a flex fuel engine. Heard of more common than not problems as there seems to be more wiring involved for some reason and one of the circuits fails. I tapped into the wires and found a combination of splicing that worked for me and no problems for 8 months now, but had for 2 years previous.

 

[Todd Z]

The 04 and 05 were prone to this, the Ethonal in the gas messes with the sender in the tank..... I left mine alone and just Watched the mileage...



Todd Z

 

[Ken Crockett]

It's been working right since about a day after I filled up, so I'm not going to spend any money on it just yet. Thanks to all for your responses, assistance, and expertise!

 

[Adam Smith]

My '04 flex fuel Trac started doing the same thing in 2012. It was very sporadic, only right after fill up, and usually popped up to "full" after restarting; or slowly crept up while driving after the fill up, and would be fine after that. Became more common in 2013 after fill ups, and now in 2014, I have had it happen while driving around - suddenly the red dash light and audible alarm goes off and the gauge has dropped to below empty (bottomed out). Anyone with some new ideas? I pulled every fuse and just pushed them back in, be careful if doing this, easy to forget where one went. I believe it is a 7.5 in the middle row that controls all the gauges on the dash (yes, I d/c'd the battery first).

Thanks!