# 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe fuel gauge intermittently works

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** hyundai, santafe\
**Created:** [March 23, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082 "2019-03-23T19:23:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mark27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@Mark27](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mark27)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082/1 "2019-03-23T19:23:29Z")

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The fuel gauge on my car has begun to only work intermittently. Often, after filling my tank, the fuel gauge reads empty. After a while it starts to work again although there doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason as to when it will work. Google searches have found this is not an uncommon problem on Santa Fe’s although, curiously, there have been no recalls. Any ideas about how I can get my gauge to work consistently short of replacing the level sender in the fuel tank?

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**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082/2 "2019-03-23T19:28:48Z")

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> [@Mark27](#):
>
> curiously, there have been no recalls

Not curious at all . You are out of warranty and recalls are mostly for safety reasons . Just check with a local shop for a estimate and you don’t need a dealer although they might do it quicker and might not be that much more expensive.

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**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082/3 "2019-03-24T05:06:12Z")

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You most likely have deposits on the fuel sending unit

Obviously the most permanent solution is to replace the fuel sending unit

However, there is another path you can take . . . start filling up with top tier gasoline. It might just clean up enough of the deposits to resolve the problem

Costco comes to mind

It fixed the exact same problem on one of my cars . . . completely different brand, for what it’s worth

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mark27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@Mark27](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mark27)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082/4 "2019-03-24T16:01:13Z")

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Thanks so much db4690! I’ll give this a try. Did you also try fuel injector cleaner or any other additives to clean up the deposits?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-hyundai-santa-fe-fuel-gauge-intermittently-works/137082/5 "2019-03-24T16:03:33Z")

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> [@Mark27](#):
>
> Did you also try fuel injector cleaner or any other additives to clean up the deposits?

No, I didn’t