98 Dodge Ram Fuel Gauge

[buckle97]

I have a 1998 Dodge Ram with the 360 engine and my fuel gauge is acting crazy. It will, at random times, go completely to empty and the low fuel light will come on and then almost immediately go back to the correct reading. It started doing this when it was around ｼ of a tank but now it does it even when the tank is completely full. Sometimes it will do it repeatedly for several minutes and sometimes it will do it once and not again for a while.
Has anyone experienced this or have any tips I can try to resolve this? It痴 getting kind of annoying.

Thanks.

 

[Egon]

Don't know how yours is configured but when the fuel gage on my 96 diesel started acting up I had to pull the sending unit out of the tank and replace it.

 

[firedog]

The contact points on the fuel sender have become tarnished. Same problem with the 98' I had. You'll have to disconnect the fuel lines at the top of the tank and drop the tank to get the sending unit out.
There are two surfaces that are affected. One, where the slider rubs against the reostat surface and two, where the slider pivots against the small collector ring. (the ring has a male spade connection on it). A light brushing with 400 grit emory cloth should do the trick.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yep, its the sending unit in the tank. Did this job 3 or so years ago on my neighbors 1996 4x4 360 powered Dodge he had at the time. While we had it down we replace the whole unit, pump and sending unit, with a aftermarket unit from ebay for around $75 at the time. Not sure what they are now days.


Chris

 

[buckle97]

Thanks guys. I guess I will plan to drop the tank the next time it gets close to empty.

 

[Builder]

Thanks guys. I guess I will plan to drop the tank the next time it gets close to empty.

Instead of going through the danger & expense of messing with the tank & sending unit, why not check first to see if it's something simple, like a bad ground, first, then go to the next step of parts replacement?

Might save you a lot of trouble & expense.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks guys. I guess I will plan to drop the tank the next time it gets close to empty.

You will know when that is from the sounds of it. You will be stranded on the side of road like I was when my F-350 had a bad dash cluster and my dads Corvette is from time to time. It will sometimes run out at 1/2 tank on the gauge then the next time be fine at 1/8 tank. We just fill it up every time we take it out.

Chris

 

[buckle97]

You will know when that is from the sounds of it. You will be stranded on the side of road like I was when my F-350 had a bad dash cluster and my dads Corvette is from time to time. It will sometimes run out at 1/2 tank on the gauge then the next time be fine at 1/8 tank. We just fill it up every time we take it out.

Well, the gauge hasn't given an inaccurate reading to date. In fact just last week I drove it until the fuel light came on at the accurate point of just under 1/8 full. It goes to empty and then almost immediately goes back to the accurate reading.

 

[buckle97]

Instead of going through the danger & expense of messing with the tank & sending unit, why not check first to see if it's something simple, like a bad ground, first, then go to the next step of parts replacement?

Might save you a lot of trouble & expense.

It doesn't sound like dropping the tank will be that much trouble. As far as expense, I was planning on trying firedog's suggestion of cleaning the contact points so hopefully there won't be any expense.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Dropping the tank is not that big of a deal. I have done it on a Chevy 1500 in the last 2 months with a nearly full tank, on my dad Corvette twice, on the 96 Ram my neighbor had, and a Mustang back in the mid 90's.

Just have a couple of helpers and a floor jack. Drive the rear wheels up on ramps and then usually just a couple of straps and 4 bolts holing it up. What I did was put a piece of plywood under the tank then used the floor jack to lower it. The last one I did was the Chevy truck and it had enough slack on the lines to allow it to come all the way down to the ground. Label the lines and electrical connections then remove. The hardest part on it was removing the filler neck hose.

Chris