Hello all, one of the small but annoying problems with my '70 Cutlass is the fuel gauge - the needle bounces about a lot when driving, so that it could be showing quarter full or empty (which is obviously a problem). Anyone got any ideas why this could be happening? And if so, how is the issue solved?

Cheers,

Anth.

 

Does the gauge, after it's done bouncing around, eventually settle back down to an essentially correct reading?

It sounds like a problem with the sending unit in the tank. You would have to remove it and probably replace it.

 

I'll check next time I use it, but I think it does settle down when the car is stationary. I'll price senders up and go from there, thanks for the info

 

They're not expensive. $30 to $40 for your car at rockauto.com, depending on the specific one you need and which brand you choose. For this price, if you go through the trouble of taking the old one out, which often means dropping the fuel tank, I would just put in a new one no matter how much it looks like the old one might be fixable.

The old one lasted 43 years. Put in a new one, and you won't have to worry about it again until 2056.

I tried to fix the one in my '67 Delta, and I can tell you from experience that the only thing more annoying than having to drop the gas tank once is having to drop it twice. When the fix didn't take, I ended up getting a new one, which for my car was more in the $80 range.

 

I'll try Rock Auto as they have a uk outlet. You're absolutely right, for that money if the tank's off it's hardly worth not fitting the new one is it?

 

I didn't realize you were not in the U.S. Good luck on getting the part. Yes, having a U.K. branch of rockauto will certainly help.

 

Yeah, I'm in the uk! Just need to check whether the sender has one or two outlets as both are listed, but they're cheap enough - shipping costs more than the part!