Gas Meter Problems

[jenkins]

My gas meter is acting really screwy. Last night driving back home from a trip I noticed i had less than a quarter of gas. I looked at it again 15 minutes later and the meter was telling me i had more than half a tank of gas. After a half hour of that it went back down and stayed at less than a quarter. This morning it was fluctuating from half a tank to almost full, and same thing coming home from work. I went to pittsburgh and back yesterday with a full tank to start and that is a 2.5 hour drive so I know I am low on gas. This has been going on and off for a month or so but it doesn't do it everyday. Can you guys give me some things to check so figure this out?

Thanks,

Aaron Jenkins

[nos4blood70]

Check out the 2000-2005 section. There's a list of common problems there.

Fuel gauge has a mind of its own
Problem: The fuel gauge doesn’t work correctly. You are sick of using the trip meter to judge your distance left.
Solution: You need to replace the fuel level sensor on the fuel pump assembly. Buying this part from GM will cost over $400. Thanks to Hans, we have a simple $40-50 fix. The fix involves buying a part from a GM dealer that is made for a recall on Tahoe’s. What happens that makes the sensors not read correctly, is the little fingers on the sensor wear out, causing false readings.
Bad sensor: http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d61/b ... G_7569.jpg
Good sensor: http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d61/b ... G_7572.jpg
Luckily GM made it easy to get the fuel pump out by making an access panel in the trunk. You simply remove the pump from the fuel tank, and swap the sensor arms, and reinstall. For a more detailed explaination with a video tutorial, see here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3463
Pics here: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=456
Part number needed: 15824379 ($43.30 as of 5/8/11)
Estimated Cost: $40-50 for the part from GM, $20-30 on ebay

[jenkins]

thanks!