lowred1

I have a 99 Silverado 3500. My fuel gauge started acting crazy a couple weeks ago. I thought it was the sender unit. That would be a expencive repair if I replaced it. So I took it to my mechanic. It's a dump bed so he was able to do a quick test on the sender unit. He said it was the guage. I was told that now I need to buy a whole guage panel. A rebuilt one cost $200 or more. So for now I'm just going to put in another pod fuel guage. The guy at the store ask me what volt I needed. I have no Idea. Does anyone have any better idea's and and what volt I need. I'm getting tired of watching my odemeter and filling up at every gas station I drive by worring I will run out of gas.

MDTAHOE

Modulemaster.com will rebuild your for $120. I must say that 99% of the time it is the sender. Are you sure he new what he was doing when testing it.

lowred1

Yes. He is one of the best mechanics around. I have known him along time. He's not perfect though. It's not just reading wrong like when I've had other sender units go bad. It's going crazy. It's incredibly easy to check and change the fuel pump. It's a dump bed. So if someone knows what wires to check and what to look for I could do it myself. But I guess it's a big secret or something. Do you know what wires to check and what I should look for. Thanks.

lowred1

Just a follow up. Well my guage just couldn't take all the shaking, spinning and bouncing anymore. It finally broke and is just hanging there. At least it will stop hitting the oil pressure guage. I was worried it wasn't going to be able to take it anymore.

maxxman04

gauge clusters are known to burn out, causing some of the gauges to read wrong, but i agree that it's probably the sending unit itself. there is a certain resistance range the sending unit should read within. really, the only way to check is to pull the sending unit and check the reading thru the wire with an ohm meter as the float is moved thru the range. compare to stock spec, which if i can find my book, i have those specs and the color wire used for sending unit. it could still be the gauge, but typically it's the speedo or tach that starts acting up first. second, maybe third, opinion from mechanic may not be bad idea.

lowred1

A note for anyone still following. I ran out of gas today. My rear tank fuel pump burned out. Must have been right after I filled up last time. So I was running on my front tank only, but didn't see it because my guage was broken.

silverado 1500 2001

Ultimate Guide To GM Gauge Problems and How To Repair - DrSpeedometer.com - Instrument Cluster Repair, Speedometer Repair and Tachometer Repair

(warning: this article is trying to sell parts and omits some important details)

note:

(1) a "pegged" gauge can often go away by itself or by turning key on/off several times: being pegged does NOT mean it needs repair (not on chevy silverado)

(2) wiring problems or just missing fuses can also cause gauges to be off or become pegged. don't believe you need a whole new IPC (cluster) just because some internet article is telling you that you need one

to answer orig post: yes a crazy gauge is likely the sender unit (in tank) being intermittent not the dash, and if the sending unit is old enough to be "dead" you may as well get a whole kit because the seals start leaking. the kits are all made in china so was the "OEM GM" part. lift the bed off is easiest access. am i selling them? (a) no i'm not chinese i promise! (b) all cars (toyota, voltswagen, gm) use chinese fuel tank kits and they ALL have the same limited life span and issues (no fuel guage, pressure leaks back into fuel tank)