so driving home tonite my low fuel gauge lite comes on, micro second later i get the buzzer for low fuel and look down in time to see the fuel needle on the gas gauge drop from full (which the tank is as i had just refilled the nite before) to well below empty.. like not even a reading empty..

after several restarts after driving the rest of the way home the gauge remains in that same position..showing no fuel at all.....

looked in the owners manual but there doesnt seem to be a fuse for the gauge itself, and all the other electrical doo-dads in the truck seem to be worknig properly..

so im asking is it the gauge gone poof or perhaps the sending unit in the tank, or maybe a dreaded electircal gremlin..

i know it could easily be any of the above but im curious if anyone has anything easy to check first...

as a side note a couple of months back the gas guage did the opposite problem for a few days were after filling the tank, the reading seemed to be stuck on full, for well past the time i know it should have started dropping...

few days later it droped to the correct level and was fine since...

so im thinknig maybe sending unit in the tank was getting ready to die and its finaly gone...

thoughts ???

techincaly i know the range of my truck well enuf i could just drive it with no gauge but i know that issue will bother me everytime i start the truck so im gunna have to fix ...

 

sending unit in the tank took a dump more than likely.

 

UPDATE..

started her up today and drove around guage worked fine.

LOL go figure...

 

Sounds like the same problem I'm having.Does anybody have a rough estimate for a sending unit?

 

try putting some fuel cleaner in the tank. there maybe some alge build up.

 

thats actualy a good idea.. and one i hadnt thought of..

worst case it makes no differnce for the few $ it costs...

 

Assuming that it's the truck in his sig, it's a gas truck, not diesel. And if there was enough crud in the tank to screw up the fuel sender there would be enough to block the fuel filter first.

 

I've got an 03 with the 6.0 and have had the instrument cluster replaced under warranty because my fuel gauge quit working.

I'd try and find out more about the sending unit before I got too far. If you're lucky then it was just one of those electrical hickups and won't happen again.

Joe

 

Might be worth tracing the wire and insure everything is tight. Loose wire did something similar on an old car I had once.

 

dont think its a loose wire...

i reg. drive down bumpy gravel roads and its never hiccup'd or failed driving on them dirt roads...

the other day when it plunked down to zero, i was actualy coasting up to a red lite on the main roads...

gunna look for a gasoline fuel system cleaner just to give it a try...but so far since that day its been worknig perfectly again..

and the last few days i;ve been driving in some crazy wind/rain storms...no problems

 

I am having this same issue with a friend of mine's truck (03 F350 7.3l). Does anyone have a schematic, who can tell me what circuit to test before we try the sender?

 

My '06 F 350 diesel is doing the same thing. Code shows PO460 (fuel level sensor A circuit) according to a mechanic who looked at it. They are telling me I need a fuel sender unit at an installed cost of around $800.
My fuel guage goes to zero then pops back up randomly. This seems to trigger the check engine light that has stayed on for several weeks. I have been ignoring it but guess I should let them do this repair. I have been tempted to drop the tank and do it myself. Looks like the unit itself is around $275.

 

Had this exact thing happen to me (PO460), 06 250 5.4. Was the fuel sending unit and it was repaired except I think the ding dong mechanic put the wrong one in. From what my buddy at Ford told me there are different ones for the smaller and larger fuel tanks and they must have put in the smaller tank version because after filling up the guage never reads totally full. Plus when the fuel warning comes on it is only at about 270 miles when it used to be 360-380, or something like that. Still have to talk to the shop (used private shop) about this as they guarantee repairs for 1 year. I would have repaired it myself but anything dealing with fuel I get iffy about. The part was $400-450 and the labor was around $300. That day hurt. Also the part wasn't available anywhere else except from Ford at that price (had my buddy look it up), so you know how those parts go. Went through A LOT of Chevron Techron to "clean out deposits", didnt help...just an FYI

 

My 05 F250 Diesel is having the same problem. Get in the truck, start it up and the fuel gauge is lying below the E line then half hour later, it starts working again. Trying to figure out the the problem. Sounds like another common problem.

 

knock on wood, but mine hasnt done it in quite awhile..

theres no question something is going south thou.

i added a couple of fuel system treatment/cleaners at my last oil change, and so far the guage has been working perfectly.. course now that i've said it, im sure tomorow it'll stop working, haahah