89firebirdFormu

i have a 1989 firebird formula. i recently changed the fuel pump.... the fuel gauge showed empty so when i went to go fill it up it went to full but its been a week and it hasnt gone down. anybody know why???

thanks

1piece@atime

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like your float may have stuck in the up position. Could be a wiring issue except I think grounding the wire may make it show empty. Maybe the gasoline fairy is hanging out at your house and filling you up every night! ... ok probably not, but it happened in a dream I had once!

bryanh1618

Had the problem with my gas gauge too. Had to replace the fuel pump yesterday, so while i had it out i looked at the fuel level sender and float. Its a pretty simple device, it works on a 0-90k ohm resistance, so if there is no resistance, the gauge will always read full (meaning the contacts are not receiving continuity). When this happens there is more than likely corrosion and buildup on the circuit. So i took apart the sender and float, it is just 3 metal tabs that you can bend up to disassemble the entire unit. once apart you see the back side of the sender has a resistance strip, mine was covered in gunk that settles on it from gas over time, I took a piece of steel wool, broke all that corrosion off, and then on the float side, there is a contact that moves up and down, i cleaned that off as well. After you get everything cleaned, put everything back together, then put a meter on the purple and black wires to test ohms, you should see the ohms go up and down as you move the float, and its that simple. Whatever you do, don't go buy the $200-$300 sender they sell, all of them can be easily fixed unless its an issue within the gauge cluster.

Doubt its the gas fairy 1piece, but if it is, send him/her my way!