I haven an 02 ls with an erratic operatating gauge. It seems to wander as your driving, sometimes then not moving from one point for days. Any one have any similiar issues with theres. Any help would be appreciated.


Brian

 

sounds like you may have a sending unit going out

 

I have a erratic gas guage that was caused by my battery terminal falling off.....this cause my entire electrical circuit to go haywire when it happened. I replaced the battery and now the guage is faulty. This replacement of the feul sensor cost $400+ to fix, I said screw that i will track the milage. Anyone has any detail on this change? Can it be that difficult?

Also, I notice my fuel consumption matches my indicator now, before it was approx. 2 gallons off.

Strange things are starting to happen......

 

My gauge has done the same thing. It started out acting erratic, but now it just sits on 'Full' until you get down to about a 1/4 tank then it sits on Empty. I priced a sending unit for about $100 but said screw it, I will just keep track of the miles. I'm sure the dealer would soak you on a repair for this.
I don't plan on keeping this car much longer anyway. I've had numerous problems with it over the past year.

 

I had the same problem with my 97 grand prix. The gas gauge constantly read full. I tried a fuel injector cleaner and it solved the problem for a few days and then it went back to old behavior and never got fixed again. I would try some of that fuel aditive stuff and see if it cleans off the terminals of the sending unit. Might solve the problem for a bit.

Steve

 

I had that problem with my '01 Monte SS. It took me 2 things to correct it.
First, I quit bying gas at one station in particular (almost next door to my home) and now only use Amoco or Shell, and NO 10% ETHANOL! Ethanol allows more water to be burned in with the gas. I believe this is what messes up the sending units, the water.
Second, I used a fuel injector cleaner called "Seafoam". It's a little expensive, but once things got cleaned up, I didn't have to use as much.
Cheap gas is and always been the enemy of fuel systems, especially here in the north. TOO MUCH WATER IN THE GAS! Fuel injection makes this problem not so noticeable, but carb' cars are more sensitive to this.
When I sold my '01 Monte, everything was working fine. You got to catch it early, before things are too messed up.
Usually tho, I would assume things get so corroded in the tank from the moisture, that the sending unit quits working. I replaced the sending unit on my fathers '96 LeSabre.

 

Mine went back to the dealer for this and it turned out that a cheap plastic clip that holds the float had broken off. The tank has to be drained and removed to replace the clip which was done under warranty. Hopefully now that the warranty is up the same clip won't ever break again as I'll have to pay to have it replaced. Have'nt had any other problems with the gauge since the repair.

 

on my 2001 monte as long as the vehicle is not moving the guage is accurate, as soon as the car moves the guage goes to full and stays there

 

My 03 has similar issues. The gauge usually jumps up and stays at full while driving. It does give me an accurate reading though, right after starting. Then all bets are off after a couple minutes. As long as I'm mindful to look at the gauge when I start up I always have a pretty good idea of how much gas I've got. I also reset the trip every fill up as a back up reference.

 

Mine does the same, accurate at start up, then pegged on Full when I take off. I, too, just use the tripometer and fill up every 375-400 miles.