The gas gage on this car has intermitant readings that are not accurate. I am told you must drop the gas tank and replace the fuel pump assembly at a big dollar repair. The car runs fine, do you really need to replace the whole fuel pump assembly to repair the gas gage?
Very often you do need to do that because the actual mechanisms and sending unit are in the tank.
The best thing you can do if you don’t want to go through the expense is ignore the gas gauge and reset your trip odometer every time you fill up. By now you probably know about how many miles you can go on a tank, so just use that. If you don’t know, it is pretty common for gas tanks to be sized to give in the range of 400 miles or so per tank. So just fill up every 300 miles or less.
The Sulfur In Gasoline Does This To Many GM Cars, In Particular.
There are tiny metal “fingers” on the “wiper” (moving) part of the fuel sender that disintegrate and stop making good contact with the printed circuit board (stationary) portion of the sender.
A couple car models have a small access plate in the trunk, under the mat. My Pontiac Bonneville had one and I pulled the pump/fuel level sensor assembly and installed only a new wiper, without dropping the tank, for a small fraction of what the shops wanted to fix it. They told me they had to drop the tank. Some told me the pump/sender needed to be replaced. Some said the whole sender needed to be replaced. You should be able to replace just the sender or even a part of it as I talk about below.
I bought a GM part that was just a sender (fuel level sensor) for less than $50. It is part # 1582-4379. Most dealers stock these because they sell quite a few. After you pull your fuel pump/fuel level sensor assembly and unclip the sensor assembly, It’s possible to carefully support the wiper and tap out (with a very small hammer and a blunt instrument) the brass pin that the wiper pivots on and remove it from the new GM sensor. Take your old wiper off and swap them.
I’m not sure what years the part interchanges with. Also, I don’t know if you have an access panel or you need to drop the tank. I would think an independent shop that has replaced these wouldn’t charge a fortune.
There is a You Tube Video that shows some guy doing this exact repair, but you’d have to search. I think it’s a Pontiac Bonneville. Also, I think I linked to it through this site for Buick Regal owners.
Click this to go there: http://www.regalgs.org/forum/
CSA