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Kowalski
GenIII
4/15/2005
17:59:15
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 Subject: fuel gauge ?
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Twice in the past month when I've started my truck my fuel gauge has read empty with the gas light on while I still had plenty of fuel; then returned to normal operation within one or two restarts. Any suggestions on what to check ?
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Jecht X
Dodge Dakota
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4/15/2005
19:24:04
|  RE: fuel gauge ?
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maybe a bad lead some where? I would check all connections to make sure nothing is pulled part way out. or your sending unit is faulty? I owuld say those 2
or grimlins is sifoning your gas and then putting it back in to mess with ya =-Þ
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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4/15/2005
20:21:40
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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I second checking the fuel sending unit. If it seems that all is well, i would recommend just replacing the pump instead of just the sending unit. For me anyway, it was $76 for a sending unit (dealer) vs 179 for a new pump, filter and sending unit (napa). And it turned out, a new sending unit didn't fix my problem but a new pump did. Now I have a spare sending unit. My filter is integrated on the pump and not replacable by itself.
- Dan M
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/16/2005
07:38:12
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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When the fuel sender goes, would it be intermittent like that ? And the only wrong reading it has ever given is this false empty. I'm leaning towards a bad connection myself, but it seems strange this only changes when the truck is started, then resets when the truck is started again; I thought that might point to something specific.
Dan was the problem you fixed by replacing the pump the same as mine ? I'm very hesitant to consider replacing the pump when I haven't seen any fuel delivery problem.
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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4/16/2005
10:41:42
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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I've had 2 problems with the fuel guage in my 95. The first time, The guage would bounce all over regardless of fuel level. The low fuel light never came on unless i was really low on fuel. Replaced the sending unti, problem solved. This was around 1999 or 2000.
The 2nd time, the fuel guage registered empty. The low fuel light never came on unless I was low on fuel. Replaced the fuel sending unit, the fuel guage still registered empty but now the low fuel light was ALWAYS on regardless of fuel level. I returned that fuel sending unit thinking it may be bad. The new one caused the guage to register properly but only within the first 1/8 of a tank and the low fuel light went out. No matter how much fuel i had left, it always showed me as having 7/8 of a tank left. I never drove enough gas out for the low fuel indicater to come on. I did notice that whenever i got below ~7-8 gallons left, the truck would miss out. The indicated to me a fuel pump problem or dirty gas. I went ahead and got a new pump from napa and emptied all of the old gas out.
Basically I spent $76 for a fuel sending unit that did not fix my problem. So now I have a spare. And I am not sure if the sending unit I replaced is bad or not. I may have 2 good spare sending units. On my 95, the fuel filter is integrated into the fuel pump. I don't know what year your truck is, I was just suggesting that you might as well just replace the whole fuel pump , sending unit and filter instead of just replacing the sending unit. For me it was $179 for the whole set from napa vs just $76 for the sending unit. For an extra $100 i got a new pump and filter - granted I had a pump issue as well. This is of course if you have checked out everything else and decided to replace the sending unit only. This leads me to believe the fuel guage problem is isolate to the old pump (maybe wiring in the pump) and not the wiring (connector for the fuel pump) or the sending unit.
The napa pump was about $15 more, but the filter on it was more than just a screen as was the pumps from advance and autozone. It was the same as the factory pump in every detail.
Oh yeah, while you have the pump out, you might check the hoses that lead from the tank to the filler cap. I went ahead and replaced mine. I bought the hoses from napa (only place that carried it) and they sell it by the foot (about $20 for both hoses - filler hose and air hose).
If you use the same sending unit in your truck, I'm willing to part with the last one I bought from the dealer for cheap.
- Dan M
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/16/2005
20:35:59
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Thanks Dan. I'm still hoping for an easy solution, or will probably just rely on tripmeter for gas gauge if problem gets beyond intermittent.
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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4/16/2005
23:18:00
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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I relied on the tripometer for about 5 months. I always reset it at fill-up so i know what kind of milage i'm getting. The low fuel light was just annoying, I found myself always looking down at it.
- Dan M
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/17/2005
07:35:55
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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A small piece of electrical tape would take care of that. Still hoping someone might know more about this problem ?
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martinphantom
Dodge Dakota
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4/17/2005
17:00:24
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Mine is doing the exact same thing. The first time it read empty I knew I had at least a half tank and thought someone had siphoned some.
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STS
Dodge Dakota
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4/19/2005
16:19:27
| Same problem?
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I got the same problem.. Just don't worry about it
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2003 4.7
Dodge Dakota
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4/19/2005
23:07:16
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Hey Kowalski, mine has been doing kinda the same thing. I can fill up and start up, gauge reads old level, or empty. took mine to the local stealer and they "can't find anything wrong". But mine has been resetting itself of sorts when I shut'er down then it will read true level. I'm pobably going to pull the sending unit soon, so if I figure it out before you do I'll give ya some clues.
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Rustywrench3
Dodge Dakota
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4/20/2005
00:41:29
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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My 98 has done the same thing a few times. But I have also noticed the other dash guages have quit at the same time. If I turn the engine off and then restart it, everything will work fine. I am guessing something going bad in the ignition switch?
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/20/2005
17:39:22
|  RE: fuel gauge ?
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Thanks guys - misery loves company ! I see I'm not the only one with electrical gremlins.
Rusty - that's one possibility, but I'm sure that could be a computer or other problems too. When my truck was new I had a problem with eratic operation of the intermittent wipers. Dealer couldn't find it, said it could be any one of seven possible components; it fixed itself several months later and never did that again. Life can get interesting as things get more electronically complex...
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Leviticus
Dodge Dakota
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4/22/2005
02:13:07
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Somewhat off topic but related. Ive had some electrical gremlins in my 98 durango. Just very random.
One time everything ran good, drove, but i had no gauges, no radio, clock on the radio DID work, overhead gauges didnt, and no interior lights.
Other times, it just wont start up, when you turn the key...nothing.
All these times the problem either fixed itself or i simply pop the hood and open the fuse box under the hood, press/whack on the fuses and its always solved the problem. This has only happened a handful (3or4) times and i never worried aobut it too much (It has worried my passengers though a couple times HA).
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/22/2005
15:43:35
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Ah yes, the good old fashioned "whack the tv set on the side" approach. Gotta love it - if I only knew where to hit it !
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mpbronso
Dodge Dakota
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4/26/2005
13:55:59
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Kowalski--
So what happened?
When my '00 was still pretty new (about 30,000) I had this problem for a month or two, then it went away. Seemed like after every new fillup, on the next start the gauage would not register and the gas light would come on. After a few more starts it would be fine.
Long story short, it is about 3 years and 60,000 miles later, and it hasn't done it since.
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martinphantom
Dodge Dakota
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4/26/2005
16:34:10
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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My 00 has 90k and has done it twice in the last two weeks.
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/26/2005
17:46:34
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Did it twice in a week; then hasn't happened again since. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll just be a transient thing like the wipers ?
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MArk Stephens
Dodge Dakota
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4/27/2005
14:57:55
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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WELL MY FUEL GAUGE IS ALL F'ED UP AND ITS DRIVING ME NUTS. I THINK I'M GOING TO PUSH IT OFF THE GRAND CANYON.. AND THEN BY A HONDA RIDGELINE....
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/27/2005
16:12:01
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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I guess I shouldn't have mentioned the wipers - been ok for 4 years; and today they start acting up again. Instead of wipe, pause, wipe, pause; I sometimes get a double or triple wipe on a dry windshield.
M.S. - Enjoy your Ridgeline - when you get a hangnail, will you also cut off your hand ? Your solution seems a little drastic - I still prefer my truck to anything else out there. I'd like to see a Ridgeline try to plow my driveway, or tow my camper.
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kingngrn
Dodge Dakota
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11/29/2010
01:00:31
| RE: fuel gauge ?
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Message:
just replaced fuel pump/sending unit on my '00 dakota quad, 3.9 and the guage still reads empty and the fuel low light is on. What's next
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