Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Fuel Gauge Stuck on Full

First I want to thank everyone for this great site and your great insight. You've saved me and my daughter countless hours and many, many $$$. I will definetly contribute to this sites upkeep.

My Daughters 95 Contour 2.5 Duratec V6's fuel gauge has been stuck on full for a year, regardless of the tank level. As the tank empties it may only move slightly to the towards the left. I figured it was the sending unit, but just changed out the pump with sending unit last week. I was very careful to make sure the float arm was not hanging up. Fuel gauge is still only reading full. I'm guessing bad fuel gauge, any other ideas? How common is it for a gauge to go bad, by only reading full? If I have a short in the wiring would it read full or empty? How tough is it to change out the gauge? I will appreciate any help you can offer.
Thanks
Mike

I wish my guage was stuck on full (legitimatly)....

Let me read the post now, and give you a better reply.

Okay, what you can try is repositioning the needle after a complete fill up. Position it to full..

Does the needle go down when the car is off?

Thanks for the reply, phlop. The needle stays on full when the key is off. Does that suggest a short in the wiring?

Ford doesn't use a linear fuel guage. Thats why it says you have a full tank for the first 150 miles (half the tank), then starts dropping like a rock, they want to make you feel like you are getting better fuel economy.
The guage itself usually doesn't have any smarts in it, but the circuit that controls the stepper motor might have a short, or the stepper motor itself might be going south.

Actually I beg to differ on that. Yes, I have noticed that the gauge is not as accurate as a Honda gauge, but once you begin tracking mileage and using that odometer, you don't even NEED the gas guage for the most part. In fact, the gauge on my mother's Taurus has been dead for over a year. No problem with filling up.

I can go upto around 80 miles past full, then it will drop quickly to 3/4, then by around 230 it will be at 1/2 (Seems pretty accurate to me). If I can get 80 before passing full, I am happy. I get high 20s in the city because I watch the odometer closely. Make sure the needle isn't sticking. It's not too difficult to pull the lens over the cluster out.

Put some reverse-glows while you have it apart.

I'm bumping this because I just cleaned the fuel pump, and am currently sitting at above full with 160 miles on the full tank. Any other idea what might be going on?

the gauges are electronic are they not? (car go on, needles moves) Did you ever check the wiring? it could be a short causing it to stay up, or a disconnected wire. Maybe the gauge itself is just stuck. if the little needle it froze in one position, it may need to be replaced/given a friend push. Not sure how you'd get the gauge out. oh and does your low gas light still go on?

The needle doesn't move at all. I just filled the tank Thursday night after cleaning the fuel pump sock. It didn't go down at all during a short road trip, and I even checked the float on Saturday when I repulled the fuel pump to replace the gasket (never reuse the gasket like I did). It appeared to actuate fairly easily.

check wire connections or you may have damaged the fuel sending unit.