Hey guys,
Im new to this site, and to owning my vehicle. I recently took in a 96 Chevy Blazer after my husband passed away. I am not familiar with this vehicle at all. I know it recently had the transmission rebuilt (within the last month) and a new fuel pump and battery, but other than that i am clueless.

I drove it 40 miles to day to the next town over and on the way there it was perfectly fine..didnt notice anything out of the ordinary. But on the way back, (in cruise control) i noticed the gas gauge playing all over the place. I know i had a quarter tank, but all of a sudden it moved all the way up, way past the full mark. Then it went below the quarter mark, then over, then it stayed above full for a while. I pulled into a gas station, filled up..and when i restarted the car, it was back to normal and where it should be. Didnt do it after that either. I just thought that was the strangest thing.

If it plays around once in a while its fine, but i just dont want a faulty tank reader to where its going to cause me to run out of gas without realizing. Is this at all an easy fix?

 

Easy fix is kind of hard to say, depending on your mechanical abilities. Kind of surprising you are having this being as you stated a new fuel pump, unless you REALLY mean just a new fuel pump and not a new fuel pump assembly.

The original fuel pump assembly had a few problems from the factory, one being the wiring harness and another being the fuel sending unit. Both should be corrected when replaced with a new fuel pump assembly.

Best thing to do at the moment is to figure out conservatively how many miles you get to a tank. Reset your trip odometer each and every time your fill up religiously. Keep an eye on your fuel gage and compare. Doing this will let you know how much fuel you have if your gage does get weird again.

As to an easy fix, you can try your flavor of fuel additive as see if that helps the problem. Some have had positive results and others not so much.

To fix the problem, if indeed there is a problem and not a fluke, you need to replace the fuel sending unit, which is basically the entire fuel assembly minus the pump. This entails dropping the tank, removing the fuel assembly and replacing with a new unit and then putting the tank back in place. Not terribly hard providing you have the tools and a little bit of knowledge.

My recommendation: Figure out your milage per tank and fill up at a minimum of 50 mpg before you need to. I ran with a non functioning fuel gage for the better part of four years by using the trip odometer. When my fuel pump finally gave up the ghost I replaced the entire fuel pump assembly. Still not completely used to trusting the fuel gage but I'm getting there.

Oh, it's been almost two years since I've had a functioning fuel gage!

 

You know i really couldnt say. It wouldnt surprise me if he ONLY changed the actual pump. It does sound like him to go the cheapest route possible..

I have replaced a fuel pump before (with help from my husband) but they were in cars, and it didnt involve actually dropping the gas tank (eesh). Not sure if id want to try something like that without actually having done it before. hmm

I take it its probably not worth paying someone to replace that part..id imagine it would be spendy huh? Guess id better start counting..haha

 

Our gauge has gone nuts also. We use the trip odometer and fill up and reset it every 300 miles. Never had the fuel pump replaced - yet...

 

When I first got my '01 it did the same thing. It would read correctly until it got down to approx. 1/4 tank then it would act up. I fixed mine by cleaning the electrical connector going to the pump/sender assembly. It's located on the top of the fuel tank and that area tends to accumulate a lot of road debris. I cleaned the connectors with electrical cleaner then covered it with weatherstrip caulk. I never had a problem after that.

BTW - I like your Cockatoo...I have a Congo African Grey.

 

Hi I have a 95 and the damper on the sensor is not very good (reacts to fast) step on the brake gauge goes up step on the gas gauge goes down, leval and stoped gauge settles in. Also even in cruise on hwy upgrade gauge goes up downgrade gauge goes down.

 

Hey sounds like the sending unit but alot of the time its a grounding where it plugs in pump in tank use a zipstrip to keep wire from touching the bracket that holds pump to send unit. You have to drop the gas tank and fuel lines(3) and disconnect wire harness on top of the tank then tap lock washer to release the sending unit and fuel pump then do what said first. BUT CHECK WIRES AND HARNESS ON TOP OF TANK FIRST. then go to tank removal I GAURANTEE ITS THE GROUND ON THE SENDING UNIT A REAL MECHANIC WILL KNOW THIS AS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR ALL VEHICLES THEY CAN EITHER DO WHAT I SAID WITH A ZIPSTIP OR SHRINKWRAP THE WIRE. IT TOUCHES THE BRACKET AND GROUNDS OUT RESULTING IN A FULL TANK WHEN YOU FILL IT HIGHER THAN WHERE THE WIRES ARE GROUNDING IT CREATES A SPACE AND NO LONGER GROUNDS OUT. LIKE I SAID IF YOU HAVE TO GO TO A MECHANIC REMEMBER WHAT I SAID OTHERWISE HE WILL ROBB YOU FOR A NEW SENDING UNIT MY WAY IS 5 DOLLARS FOR A BAG FREE TO MECHANIC. LABOR IS WHAT COSTS SO DONT LET HIM GET YOU FOR THE PART WHEN IT CAN BE FIXED. dont let mech get you the part costs 150-220 dollars + Labor 270-370

 

Awesome =) My parents have a Timneh =). Ive also got a few other birds but my goffins is my biggest and my baby =)

From what im hearing sounds like this gas gage is pretty common. Being the fuel pump was just changed i really dont want to have to open it all up again..bah. Ill just deal with it for now i guess.

 

If all ealse fails hit it with a hammer thats where i start..

 

I replaced the sending unit with the pump maybe 100k km ago and then I put in a warranty replacement pump. Maybe 6mo later, the sending unit started acting wonky. I spliced in a new molex connector on top of the tank which seemed to make it better although not perfect. I cut and regrounded the frame connection also so I am thinking that maybe there are more faulty dash gauges out there than some of us are anticipating. Needless to say, I use the ODO and haven't run out yet. These pumps really seem to squeal when running dry so you should have enough warning to limp to a pump (maybe).

You're not alone - this design in one way or another is the worst I've ever owned. I do have a love/hate relationship with this 4x4 however... I love to hate it.

You can drop than tank very easily. I've done mine several times without a problem. Empty it first unless you feel like wonder woman.

A.