Hi Guys! Okay, so my ‘saab expert’ has my car in for a fuel pump replacement and he deliberately changes the fuel float setting, without my knowledge. On the next fill-up I find it now tops off at 3/4 gal… I called to inquire and let him know the gauge was off, only to find he changed the float level, intentionally, as he feels he’s doing people a favor by putting a larger buffer in the red zone, before going empty. Apparently, folks somewhere like to have a safe zone of 3-4 gallons to spare rather than the normal 2 gallons thats left in the tank when it hits the red line? Why would he do this? I am still trying to decipher how exactly this makes my life and driving my car better. Prior to him tweaking things, I knew if I drove my car and emptied the tank down to “1 mile to go” there was exactly 1mile to go, no question, I’ve never run out of gas yet. Now I fill up way too often and have no idea what’s really left in the tank when it hits the red zone. Is it an easy fix to set the float back so that when I fill with 18 gals, so that it actually registers the gauge needle in the Full zone? I am miffed by why anyone would think this was an act of kindness. It’s caused nothing but frustration. I’ve had him already re-set it, but he did not get it right… Seriously, how hard can it be? Is it best to have the tank empty or full when setting the float or does it even matter?
Thanks for your insight and expertise!
yours respectfully,
another saab 9-3/2000 owner.
PS - we caught a few shows of CT on tv recently - very funny stuff!! Keep it up. 
and, for the fun of it:
Q: what is the only thing that works on an old saab?
A: the owner!
You will not get Tom and Ray on this forum.
First off, your mechanic did not screw the float up on purpose, even if it is actually screwed up.
Gas gauge sending units (in the tank) are pretty delicate creatures and the simple act of disconnecting the wire connector and/or removing the unit can cause the reading to vary later on.
The pump can be replaced as a stand-alone part or as part of an assembly, which also has a new sending unit on it.
If the latter, an aftermarket unit with a different resistance through the sending unit or an aged/loose fitting pump connector can cause the gauge reading to vary from what it was before.
About all one can do is probe the sender leads with a VOM (with the unit removed and operating the float by hand) and compare the readings against what the factory manual says they should be.
For best resolution, it should be set to read Empty when the tank is empty. Who cares if you have 18 or 20 gallons? The manufacturer sets the range so that it shows the most resolution on the low end where it matters most. You’ll see that the gauge normally doesn’t even move off of full for some time when you fill up.
The best way for him to learn not to mess with things without consent is to make him keep working it until he gets it right. Nothing like doing a job 2x without compensation to send a message. Really, if he has any knowledge of how the sender and gauge works, it shouldn’t take more than one try to get it right.
Actually, ok4450, yes, my mechanic DID deliberately and intensionally screw up and set the float to read more fuel when it hit the red line. He specifically stated he did this to my face when confronted upon it. He says the does this for many of his clients, as a service, that way they will not run out of gas… if they have 4 or 3 gals in the tank left at the red line versus 1or 2 gals left. And, this does screw things up long trips when I calculate out exactly whats in the tank or now having to gas up more frequently because who knows whats really left… now when I hit the red line its 3 or 4 gals, who knows. Whereas prior I could know to the last mile. And, the needle gauge now only reads at 3/4, it never floats up to full after the tank is topped off as it did before he tweaked things… (I may be a woman, but know about cars and know my car very well, and know how gauges take a moment to settle into place - that is not the issue here). The point is the saab mechanic did a poor job in my opinion by NOT letting me know he would do this to my car, or giving me option to tell him no. And now after one attempt he has not been able to get it right…how long will this go on?
Unfortunately, Turbo, I will be the one loosing time and money taking the car back and forth, dropping it off for over night just to get this guy to set things as they were. Even thought I lose out, yeah, I do not care how many trips it takes and how much of his time it takes… You can bet I will hold out on this one. I refuse to pay for proclaimed professionals to work on my car then pull this kind of stuff. I will also bill him for my time, too.
I just really needed to know how hard a job this was, or should he be replacing the float sensor, too, now that he messed it up… or maybe he just let my car sit there and did nothing? Since the needle gauge never changed position after he claimed to work on it… there is no work ethic in this country.
Thanks for you input guys!
The question still remains unanswered.
Did he replace the pump only or the pump assembly? Those are 2 entirely different things.