Hello all!

This is the first time for me in this section, guess thats a good thing lol

My fiance drives a 2006 Escapse XLT v6 AWD. It's really a great car.


She noticed an issue when she filled the fuel tank the last time. It took about 8 miles of driving for the guage to read full after being filled from empty. She also told me there was a "whirring" noise when shutting off the car and turning it back on. I checked it out and found the fuel gauge is making a noise. Whenever you shut it off or turn it on and the needle moves there is a distinct whirring noise that sounds like dirty plastic gears meshing, which is what I'm assuming is the issue.


Has anyone else seen this? I've done a search and came up with 0 results. Can the cluster be dissasembled and possibly just clean the gears?

Thanks in advance!

Jason

 

I haven't looked at ours but I know a lot of them are eclectically controlled, more voltage the higher it goes. It doesn't use a motor.

 

Hmm, guess I'll have to pull it apart and see what I can find. It's 100% coming from the fuel gauge, when it moves quick (cycling the key on or off) it makes a noise. It's kinda like one of those old toys you would use a plastic stick and pull through it to get the little gears going so it can drive across the floor lol. Def sounds like a plastic gear noise

 

Most gauges work using a bi-metal spring/arm that bends based on temperature. If you pass more current through it, it will bend more. The arms are generally attached to a gear that will turn in either direction to move the gauge needle.
Look up Bourdon tube on google images for an example.
If the gears got sticky or the teeth wore badly, that could cause the symptom. I expect you can take it apart, but the mechanism is delicate, so you have to be pretty careful. The cluster comes out with a couple screws at the top of the surround molding, and then four screws for the cluster. The wires are long enough to disconnect easily. Then you get to take it apart...
tom

 

Thanks Tom,

I feel confident enough to dissasemble the cluster and hopefully not break it (theres always that chance lol). I am a tech by trade, but Ford is not my brand of training lol. Also thank you for the image reference, very helpful

I suspect (and hope) its just some dirt build up, since she's not been the most diligent about keeping the interior clean, and we have been moving a lot of horse related stuff and our pups in her vehicle for a while

 

I will be following your post , my f150 fuel guage does the same.