fuel gauge lied to me.

[SCREWd2V]

recently bought a 1990 4x4 Stx 4.0

original owner told me don't trust the gas gauge, b/c when you fill it up it goes waaaaaaayy past "full"

i wanted to actually see where is the "danger zone" for Empty, so i figured i would drive till maybe an indictor for low fuel, or maybe on a hard turn would sputter, and then i would know where to judge from.

woke up this morning to start the truck to let it warm up before heading into work. come back out of the house, truck is dead. I figured out i don't have a low fuel indicator! tank reads at a 1/4 tank full when empty.

Is there any way to recalibrate the fuel gauge? atleast so its somewhat acurate. not a big deal, but thought maybe TRS could help!

Thanks!

 

[SCREWd2V]

did some research on the forum. looks to be a common problem. found a couple solutions, just wanted to hear from someone who had this problem, and what they did to it

 

[Doofy]

I don't usually trust OEM gauges. I normally drive by the odometer. I know how many miles I can get on a tankful and fill accordingly.

 

[Ranger4657]

haha, i had the same problem, but when i was working on the cluster one day i decided to fill it up and just pulled the needle off and repositioned it at full... not sure if thats the correct way of doing it, but i havent had any misleading measurements since.

 

[Dragonclaw]

My old cluster (stock one) would tell me I had more gas then I did but only until it got to 1/2 a tank then it would drop like a rock. I recently pulled one out of a 1997 Explorer so i could have a Tach and now it works like its supposed to. Before I changed it out I had assumed it was the sending unit telling it wrong, but I guess the cluster was the culprit.

 

[4x4junkie]

haha, i had the same problem, but when i was working on the cluster one day i decided to fill it up and just pulled the needle off and repositioned it at full... not sure if thats the correct way of doing it, but i havent had any misleading measurements since.

This is probably the fix if it's going way past full. The needle is probably just positioned wrong on the spindle.

 

[gman]

i have the same problem , i just go by the miles

 

[nitrofan1]

I'm on my second sender and it's reading off. Did some research and I have done what everyone does. Don't stuff your tank till it comes out the filler neck. Just fill to the first cutoff. For some reason Ford senders (O.E. & aftermarket) will go katy wompus on ya it over filling is done repeatedly.

I'm just gonna put up with mine till it pukes then install the Walbro pump.

 

[SCREWd2V]

haha, i had the same problem, but when i was working on the cluster one day i decided to fill it up and just pulled the needle off and repositioned it at full... not sure if thats the correct way of doing it, but i havent had any misleading measurements since.

i think this sounds like the best solution.

 

[GMWIGGS]

I'm on my second sender and it's reading off. Did some research and I have done what everyone does. Don't stuff your tank till it comes out the filler neck. Just fill to the first cutoff. For some reason Ford senders (O.E. & aftermarket) will go katy wompus on ya it over filling is done repeatedly.

I'm just gonna put up with mine till it pukes then install the Walbro pump.

My current ranger '00 and last ranger '96 I fill them up to the top. I mean I pack 'em full! Never had a problem with the gauges or anything. Maybe I'm just lucky!

Now when I go to get in my truck it wont work right anymore..................................at least thats usually how my luck goes!

 

[NMB2]

the problem with mine is the first half drops like a rock... then it'll slow down on the second half. why?