Before I get any further in troubleshooting this, I wonder if this is a common problem?

My fuel gauge is sometimes unresponsive, and it usually drops to near E. A little tap on the dash, and it usually comes back to life quickly but sometimes not so quickly. I replaced the fuel sender about 2 years ago because it was definitely bad. But now this flaky gauge is a pain in the neck. I disassembled the dash and removed the cluster. It's just about the chintziest way to make a circuit board - the contact look like beryllium copper, which is fine, but they were oxidized. So, I cleaned them up with a 1000 grit sandpaper. Same goes for the connector....also cheapo...but I sanded those contacts as well. The connectors snap into the plastic bezel but are not very secure. I question the goodness of any connection in there - yet all the other gauges work just fine....so I guess GM did it okay.

I also took out the fuel gauge from the cluster. It makes electrical contact through a few screws, and those screws attach to the (chintzy) flex circuit board. All the contacts were badly oxidized. So - I cleaned up the PCB, the screws, washers, etc. I thought that was it for sure - but the gauge is still acting up.

So - is this a common problem? I am suspecting that there might be a pinched wire in the harness, or maybe the gauge itself has a problem. I don't immediately see how the gauge works...so maybe I'm missing something.

any help?

thanks

 

For anyone who has this problem, here's what went wrong on my car.....

The fuel gauge is made from a stepper motor. Clever little gizmo....

Anyway, the solder joints went bad. To get to it, you have to take out the gauge cluster. Then break it down until you can remove the fuel gauge stepper motor from the housing.

I disassembled the stepper motor. It is built from a metal case, a small printed circuit board, and a stepper motor (made up from a lot of magnet wire). My stepper motor suffered from cracked solder joints. I first removed all of the solder with a hot solder iron (about 550 degrees F) and a lot of solder wick. Following this, I cleaned the PCB and all the places where the magnet wire was wound around the posts. Whatever they used back in 1986 really stinks when it burns....anyway, I renewed all the solder joints with fresh solder....reassembled the whole thing....and viola - it's working.

Hope this helps.