Finally got my cluster working again tonight. Thanks to bbengineer and others who responded. I had a little trouble adjusting the pointer on the temp and RPM. But lucky I have a scanner. I just hooked it up and read the temp and RPM's and was able to dial them in nicely.

Thanks again.

 

My wife has an 03 Monte SS with about 80k miles on it. It's been a great car. Just recently, the fuel gauge started acting funny. All the other gauges are working fine.

The question is how to tell the difference between a bad motor and the fuel level sensor?

Thanks for the advice!
Steve

 

It is the stepper motor and NOT the fuel level sensor. Read the previous posts.

 

He didn't post any symptoms, what makes you think it's the stepper motor?? Both problems are equally as common

Typically, if it's the fuel sender, the gauge will have wild swings... IE: it will go from 3/4 full to nearly empty or vice versa. Try running Chevron Techron additive for a couple of tanks and see if it helps... if it does, then it's likely deposits on the fuel level sender

Typically, if it's the stepper motor, typically the gauge needle will get stuck and not move, or not reset to zero all of the time when you start the car, or go off the top or bottom of the gauge

BBEngineer

 

Thanks BBEngineer! The fuel gauge is bouncing all over, not just stuck. I too think it's the fuel level sensor. We ran a couple of bottles of Chevron with 2 tanks of 91 octane, but it didn't seem to help. The gauge is not stuck, it just reads different all the time. I told the wife to pay attention to the mileage she's getting on a tank and not the computer until we can get it fixed.

My brother-in-law works parts for a Chevy dealer and says the sensor is about $120 and $60 for the install.

 

haven't been on this forum in a couple years, but it pulled through for me again just ordered my new motors. had this happen to me just as my car hit 100,002mi lol

 

OK, Just one question. How do you remove the clear front face of the cluster on the Monte Carlo and is it difficult? My speedo went out last week the sooner i get it fixed the better.

 

Does anyone know where i can get a dale earnhardt gauge cover from the 02 dale edition?

 

Ok, so I did mine today and no problem removing the front. All back together with the help of my scanner to show the RPM's, the temp and speed. Thanks a bunch for the info.

 

Should I just pay the Dealership to do this? All 4 of my Left Side Gauges don't work