bouncy gas gauge

[83cutlasssedan]

I've got a bouncy gas gauge in my cutlass. I'm wondering if the problem is in the gauge itself or if it's the sending unit in the tank. It reads accuratley other than that. the reason I'm asking is because I have the option of getting a new gauge cluster.

Thanks

 

[bowtie81]

does it do it when the tank is full too?

 

[83cutlasssedan]

actually no, only when it's down a little from full.

 

[dan2286]

It sounds like the sending unit has a bad spot on it. I dont know if their is an easy way to check it but here is the pain in the butt way to do it. Drop the gas tank and remove sending unit. Connect a multi meter set on ohms between the sending unit wire and a ground. Operate the arm with the float on it. Their should be a steady increase or decrease of resistance.

 

[Peter]

my cutlass does this as well, i just figured it was the gas sloshing around in the tank while driving because when I'm stopped its fine and i never run out of gas before my gas gauge tells me I would

 

[andrewmp6]

Could be a messed up float or something up with the sending unit.As soon as the gauge isn't off I'd just ignore it.

 

[350_85cutty]

funny story: i had a similar instance with my gas gauge, It wasn't registering how much gas I had in the tank, and I couldn't figure out what the problem was, I ordered a new sending unit $185! dropped the tank, saw that there was gas in there, inspected the old sending unit and compared it to the new sending unit, it appeared to be in good condition, switched the old for the new, even replaced the rubber lines and clamps, put the tank back up and started the car, still nothing. After all that, the problem was a blown fuse! yeah I felt stupid, i still have the old sending unit in working condition i assume

 

[pontiacman469]

G-Bodys are famous for them..they have floating sending units not much you can do.There still pretty acurate even tho they bounce

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Unless you have one of the two EFI drivetrains, there is no internal baffle in the tank, so it does slosh a bit. Also, modern cars tend to be excessively damped with capacitors to even out the readings on the gauges, so they don't appear to move much with slosh.

 

[mheath717]

My guage read full at all times so I dropped my tank and replaced my sending unit and now it works perfectly... But even with it being brand new, the guage still bounces when the gas sloshes around...