ok so heres the deal 87 f150 300 six if that matters but i need to know what all can be wrong with my gas gauge and how can i check to rull them out
im 16 and this 350 gallon here in terre haute indiana are really screwn me over
so please help me no matter how obviouis tell me what i could do
thanks

 

Is there something wrong with your guage or are you complaining about mileage? Some more information would be helpful.

With an '87 in town, I would expect you will get about 10 to 16 MPG. I get 10 in town myself.

Give us some more info on what you want and we can give you some better answers.

 

i know mileage sucks lol its a big six
but im saying when it has gas the gauge will stay WAY past full then when you get down around time to refill it will jump strait WAY past E
i need to know what all to check and or replace
i dont want to go out spending money all the time i make minumwage so money isnt growing on trees around me
basicaly i need to know what i can check to rull out certain things btw it is my back tank if that matters

 

What you are describing is actually normal behavior. These guages are not the most reliable things around. You may get some better readings by droping the tank and replacing the sending unit/float but for your money, you can do as I do.

Keep a mileage log when you fill up or put gas in it. Then, depending on how many gallons you put in, do the math at 10 MPG and write the miles down. When you hit that number, it's time to fuel up.

My front guage reads empty all the time so when I fill it, I write down my miles plus 180. When I hit that mark on the odometer, I switch to the back tank. The guage works for it but I still record another 170 miles. My tank reads empty after about 100 miles but I keep going to the 170 mark. I have yet to run out of gas and when I fill both tanks, they take what I expect and I only need a small re-finance on the house.

 

if the gauge works normally on the front tank, more than likely you need the rear tank sending unit. If you have an ohm meter, you can drop the rear tank, pull the sending unit out (if it is a big ring on the top, use BRASS or NYLON to drive it gently off AFTER you clean the crap off it so nothing falls in the tank. DON"T USE A STEEL PUNCH, some rear tanks had screws holding it in.)then manually move the float up and down with the ohm meter across the sender wires. It should drop and raise smooth, not all at once. Sorry, I don't havae the range handy, but if I get time, I'll look it up.

If it does not raise and drop smoothly, replace it..yup, the whole unit...

 

so i can check the float and that may help it i do go by the mileage but warm ups and diff driving i just want a gauge to be semi close is there a gauge i can buy as an add on

 

Go here, and scroll down the page to see what the sending unit looks like disassembled. If you are not afraid of all the hassle of dropping the tank, then you can probably clean the area under the wiper of the sending unit. Be careful around that gasoline!
http://www.winfordr.com/FordTruckStuff/f150tank.htm

 

In my old '62 GMC, the tank was behind the seat. The best guage I had was a 4' stick. Worked every time.

Don't know of an aftermarket guage but the stock ones are not going to get you down to the gallon. There may be a flow meter you can get like the newer trucks run.

In my '99 Durango, it actually tells me how much fuel I have left and how many miles I can drive. It has not been wrong yet. There may be something out there that will work on our trucks. Check Google.