If this has already been covered...please redirect. A while back I took apart my entire dash (including the clear cover over the gauges) to clean it after 20 years. I accidentally bumped the fuel gauge needle a little more towards full (about 1/4 tank more). I figured it would reset itself after a fill-up, or even when I started up the engine. It did, and it also read full once I filled it up. Last week I was driving and my car shut off. Fuel still read just under 1/4 tank full. Come to find out I was out of gas. My car took 14.5 gallons when I filled it up. (It never takes much over 13 as we know.) So, for the first time in my life I ran out of gas. The needle reads full again, but how do I fix this inaccuracy? On a sidenote (completely different issue), ever since I have owned my car for 13 years, the fuel gauge stays at full for the 1st 100 miles, then drops quickly to 1/2 the next 80, then even more quiclky to empty the next 80. Is this normal? I've always put up with it. However, my main concern is the first issue. Thanks.

 

Those things are fairly delicate. Bumping the needle shouldn't ruin the gague, but who knows. First thing I'd try is to simply remove and re-seat the cluster again. The self-aligning plug in the back doesn't always drive home properly and things can start reading inaccurately.

Yes, it's normal in most cars, especially GM cars to have the needle hang out in the top quarter of the range for a long time and then plummet to empty very quickly after that. Part of it is the shape/design of the tank that does it. They could have made it more truly linear in the calibration, I'm sure, but they didn't and still don't on most cars. Just the nature of the beast.