sabresfan

Just recently bought a '94 Z28. Pretty happy with it so far but one problem with it is that the fuel gauge is not functioning at all.

The needle is stuck at 1/4 and has not moved at all. It's not a huge issue but it makes me nervous if I ever were to run out of fuel somewhere.

What would be my best course of action to fix it? I'm tempted to call up a repair shop and have it taken care of but I don't trust they would know what to do without it costing to much. Maybe a GM dealership?

Anyone have any experience with this problem and how you fixed it?

shoebox

4th Gen LT1 F-body Tech Articles

Some info that could help.

sabresfan

I've looked over that, says how to test it and locate where the problem might be but not how to fix it

ACE1252

You've got instructions to narrow the problem to your fuel gauge cluster or the sensor in the fuel tank. If both of the above checks are fine, seems to me the problem would be wiring. What other information do you need? Other than how to remove the gauge cluster or pull the gas tank?

shoebox

First order is to narrow it down. What are you going to fix, if you don't know where the trouble is?

BTC

Tim Tebow is praying that it's not your sending unit.

sabresfan

yeah i guess I need to figure out the problem first before I do anything about fixing it, just don't like the idea of jacking up my car multiple times in the middle of winter to troubleshoot the electrical connector.

I was just wondering if anyone had any luck with this problem or if there might be a "trick" to get it working again. Or if there might be a reason why its stuck at 1/4 and not anywhere else.

Great site by the way shoebox, looks extremely useful for fourth gens.

sabresfan

I would think the check gauges light would show up if the fuel gauge wasn't functioning properly but it stays off.

AdsoYo

You won't see a check gauge light for a busted fuel gauge in these cars.

Injuneer

Just a friendly reminder to all..... the "engine tech" forums are limited to engine related topics.

Moving to "General.... F-Body Tech"

BTC

When I got my car out of storage several years ago, my sending unit had gone bad, and my gauge was pegged on empty. I'm not sure whether needle location will tell you anything. I just put a new sending unit in over Christmas, and my gauge is now working. Unless you need to drop your fuel tank for other reasons, I would certainly recommend diagnosing the issue before doing so.

sabresfan

Ok i did what it said to do on the shoebox website. I got a resistence reading that seemed to be consistent with how much gas i had left in my tank. Throughoout the entire process of testing the connector, the fuel gauge needle did not move at all, it stayed at 1/4th the whole time. does this mean the gauge itself is bad or possibly the wiring to the gauge?

shoebox

Are you saying you also did all the tests mentioned toward the gauge with the key ON? If so and there was no change to the gauge, you will probably want to isolate the wiring at the cluster connector and check again.