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Fuel gauge, drop?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:33 pm
by Brudus10
So on Friday I went down the road a few miles to return my friend's phone that she left in my car. When I left my gas gauge said I had little over a half a tank of gas. As I am coming home I turned onto the small stretch of paved road that leads to my house. After I turn on the road, I look down at my gauges to check my speed. Then I notice the gas gauge dropping from half to nearly empty. So I sadly had to run the bonne on fumes to my house. So is this a problem with the computer, Gauge cluster itself or something to do with my fuel pump? Is this a common problem on Bonnevilles? :helpsmilie:

Re: Fuel gauge, drop?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:37 pm
by bopguy
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

Re: Fuel gauge, drop?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:39 pm
by bopguy
Here ya go....it's the first thread in this forum. Most of your issues are stated and resolved here.


http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 25362.html

Re: Fuel gauge, drop?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:48 pm
by Brudus10
Well thank you very much. I probably should have done a little bit of looking first. lol.

Re: Fuel gauge, drop?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:06 pm
by bopguy
Brudus10 wrote:Well thank you very much. I probably should have done a little bit of looking first. lol.

HAha...someone had to point it out to me too. :beerchug:

Re: Fuel gauge, drop?

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 9:25 am
by imidazol97
Brudus10 wrote:I probably should have done a little bit of looking first.

There are Ebayers selling the whole gauge part of the sender in the tank. That's easier than trying unsnap the wiper arm from the unit in the Han's videos. I broke the arm trying to get the pin out.

The replacement just simply slides into the holder on the pump unit. If you're going to try to do a repair yourself, I'd recommend this.

Image

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0926553698

Verify this wiper arm is for your year and car before ordering.