Fuel gauge is going out in my silverado

**fspeedster** · 08-08-2007, 11:03 PM

My "LOW FUEL" gauge keeps coming even dough I have plenty of gas in it. Has anyone ever had this problem. My truck is an 01 silverado.

**JOHN_DEERE_LS6** · 09-03-2007, 12:52 PM

these truck are famous for the dash cluster burning out ont hem or the message board constantly flashin crazy shit 99-01 most common for what your encountering... then in 02 they got that fix and now they jsut burn out the whole thing and the cluster stops working 100%

go to a junk yard and get a newer cluster my friend i got mine for 100$ and now i got a tranny temp gauge it was outa a 3/4 ton

**fspeedster** · 09-04-2007, 02:35 PM

Yeap I figured it was something like that everything else is perfect. Thanx

**DMartinTX** · 03-17-2008, 07:52 AM

Was it the dash? My fuel gauge is acting up on my 01 Silverado. It'll fall to empty when I sit idling for more than a minute or so. Would this be the gauge cluster too? Thanks.

**JOHN_DEERE_LS6** · 03-17-2008, 10:25 AM

id have to say that problem with the fuel needle jumpin around is the first sign of your dash gettin ready to burn up.... jsut my thoughts...

**Zboner** · 03-17-2008, 10:28 AM

this happened on my dads 00 silverado, then the fuel pump went out and he replaced the fuel pump and the gauge started working again, lol

strange

**JOHN_DEERE_LS6** · 03-17-2008, 10:32 AM

the last guy nos more than me........

**Zboner** · 03-17-2008, 10:34 AM

yea your right hard ass. just telling the guy an experience I had with one

**JOHN_DEERE_LS6** · 03-17-2008, 10:38 AM

there was no sarcasim there dude.... you have first hand experience and all ive had was my dash burn out... you no more abotut he problem.... derrrr

**DMartinTX** · 03-17-2008, 11:00 AM

My first instinct is it's the fuel sensor not the gauge. Now add in the fuel pump issue

**STL2SLO** · 03-17-2008, 05:02 PM

The problem is the fuel level sensor. You can watch the fuel level reading on a scan tool. I am a GM tech and have replaced more level sensors than I care to remember.

**xws666x** · 05-05-2008, 09:04 AM

im having this issue,

i swapped into my 96 ws6, a 2000 ws6 gauge cluster (cuz it looked better and i have it from my parts car (free MOD)) so yeah, my old one works perfect, but with this one it reads E. when u turn the car off the gauge goes up. wierd. im bout to change it back cuz not knowing how much gas u have is kinda sketchy. lol.

**00 formula** · 05-08-2008, 07:37 AM

I have the same issue on my 01 Silverado, is there a way to test it to see if the issue is with the pump or dash? I assume it's one of the sensors that sits with the fuel pump but not positive.

**xws666x** · 05-08-2008, 08:36 AM

ended up being a bad fuel gauge. So i just took it apart, used the trim on my old guage cluster and called it a day.

**Nitrous** · 05-10-2008, 01:19 PM

I'd look towards the sending unit in the tank. They damage so easy and don't last long. If you replace the fuel pump I'd recommend inspecting the sender for wear and be very careful installing it. I've replaced about 20 of these on 1988 - 2003 trucks. If there's a significant amount of wear on the wiper and slide/resistor the gauge will not work properly. you have a wiper and a resistor, as the float goes up or down the wiper rubs against resistor which chages voltage making the gauge go up and down. If the wiper is close to the grounded side of the strip, there is less resistive material in the path of the current, so the resistance is small. If the wiper is at the other end of the strip, there is more resistive material in the current's path, so the resistance is large. When the float is near the top of the tank, the wiper on the variable resistor rests close to the grounded (negative) side, which means that the resistance is small and a relatively large amount of current passes through the sending unit back to the fuel gauge. As the level in the tank drops, the float sinks, the wiper moves, the resistance increases and the amount of current sent back to the gauge decreases. This mechanism is one reason for the inaccuracy of fuel gauges. You may have noticed how your gauge tends to stay on full for quite a while after filling up. When your tank is full, the float is at its maximum raised position -- its upward movement is limited either by the rod it's connected to or by the top of the tank. This means that the float is submerged, and it won't start to sink until the fuel level drops to almost the bottom of the float. The needle on the gauge won't start to move until the float starts to sink. Something similar can happen when the float nears the bottom of the tank. Often, the range of motion does not extend to the very bottom, so the float can reach the bottom of its travel while there is still fuel in the tank. This is why, on most cars, the needle goes below empty and eventually stops moving while there is still gas.