I have a 95 e150 club wagon. Usually the gas gauge doesn't work, and reads empty. Twice recently, it's worked correctly for short periods of time. I read in some older posts that if the needle goes to empty, that tells you something about what the problem is in your wiring (that the sending unit wire is shorting to ground somewhere but your ground wire itself is OK???)

Does anyone have advice on where to start looking for the problem?

Thanks to the group, by the way, for your help on my other recent posts. The engine and transmission seem very sound and the body looks quite good cosmetically and the interior is mint... I am posting here about the little issues my mechanic tells me "are not worth fixing" but I would still like to see fixed, if I can do it myself, or understand it better.

 

assuming single tank van...

general procedure for diagnosing this is:
ground the sender wire at the tank - observe gauge. unground sender wire - was there a change?
yes = bad sender
no = keep looking (bad gauge)

no to above - pull cluster. find gauge post (there will be two posts for the gauge - they will poke thru the flexible circuit board. one will be common with other gauges as it is power) that goes to sender. ground it. observe gauge. unground it. observe gauge. did it change?

yes = wiring issue between tank and gauge OR crappy connection between flex circuit board and gauge.
no = bad gauge OR crappy etc etc

keep posting. i will check back.

 

Neil 95's post is spot on------typically always suspect a wiring issue with an intermittant problem like this.

Mine gas gauge is also problematic but slightly different---once below a 1/4 tank it will suddenly drop to zero and remain there even if filled completely full. Hitting a bumpy road seems to jar something loose and the gauge springs back into action reliably so until I run it that low again.

I'm quite sure my problem is the sending unit inside the tank because this can be repeated over and over. With 241K miles I'm impressed and surprised the original fuel pump has lasted this long but it'll get changed soon. That gas gauge thing just drives me bonkers!

Hope you find your problem and its an easy fix.

 

ooops fuel gauge could have three posts - positive 12v, ground and sender.