# 2016 Ford Escape - Gauges gone wild

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2016-ford-escape-gauges-gone-wild/149205>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** ford\
**Created:** [September 21, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2016-ford-escape-gauges-gone-wild/149205 "2019-09-21T13:56:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scottc45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@scottc45](https://community.cartalk.com/u/scottc45)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2016-ford-escape-gauges-gone-wild/149205/1 "2019-09-21T13:56:48Z")

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when i start my car everything is fine – as soon as i put it in gear and start rolling (either direction) the Miles to Empty drops to dashes, the fuel gauge drops to E, and the low fuel warning light comes on – all three remain zeroed out until the car is parked and shut off – at restart it will show a valid (one presumes) Miles to Empty estimate, the fuel gauge will point up to a nice indication, and the low fuel warning light will be out – until i start rolling again

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**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2016-ford-escape-gauges-gone-wild/149205/2 "2019-09-21T15:01:10Z")

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Well, you didn’t ask a question… but I will assume you find this bad and want a solution. I think your fuel level sensor has failed. It could be a wiring issue but I think a bad fuel sendor is more likely. I believe this requires replacement of the entire fuel pump and sensor assembly.

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**Author:** ![scottc45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@scottc45](https://community.cartalk.com/u/scottc45)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2016-ford-escape-gauges-gone-wild/149205/3 "2019-09-21T19:08:15Z")

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if the level sensor is bad how does it give good readings when i first power up the car?

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**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2016-ford-escape-gauges-gone-wild/149205/4 "2019-09-21T19:55:40Z")

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It is intermittent… so it works and motion drops the signal. I would confirm that with an electrical reading directly from the sender connection at the fuel pump. If the output is in spec, then wiring is the next thing I’d check. A scanner should be able to read the fuel level reading from the OBD2 port as well. If the sender is reading in spec and the scanner is not, it is a wiring problem.