1995 Oldsmobile 88 Fuel Gauge irratic.

wrw · 06-27-2008, 09:08 AM

Recently the fuel guage in my 1995 Oldsmobile 88 started to go a little crazy. It seems to jump around about a 1/4 tank at a time and my son has no idea how much gas is left in the tank. I don't want him to run out of gas when he thinks he still has some in the tank. I have heard that there may be some sort of diode (on the sending unit???) that may be the problem. Does anyone have any information or advice? Thanks in advance.

dcraker · 06-27-2008, 12:53 PM

does it do it only at certain times of the assumed level? If it's full, does it jump around?

If it seems to be only at certain times of the fuel remaining repeatedly, then I would say that the contacts on the hangar assembly that holds the fuel pump it self could be dirty, if not damaged.

did something happen prior to this, like a hard bump in the road, accident, been sitting for awhile, never had the gas go that low since it's been owned?

wrw · 06-30-2008, 04:38 AM

My son says he never fills it all the way full. He filled it to about 3/4 full the other day and when he got back in the car he noticed that it had dropped about 1/4 tank then bounce back to a little more than 3/4. I drove it this weekend and it seems as though it is pretty steady at 1/4 and below although I'm not really sure how much gas is really in there.

dcraker · 06-30-2008, 08:49 AM

well, i am going to assume that there is no problems from full tank to about 3/4 and again no problems from 1/4 to empty, from your response.

you only have a problem between 3/4 and 1/4, I would liken to say that there is something wrong with the fuel level sending unit from the hangar assembly in the tank (dirty? broken? unsure because of limited information). But that is only a guess, the other thing you could do is do a resistance meter test at various stages of the tank, unless you drop the tank and play with the float level.

sorry, i couldn't be much more help

wrw · 07-01-2008, 05:03 AM

I will probably drop the tank this weekend and take a look at the sending unit. If I need to replace it that's what I'll do.

Thanks for the help.

06-27-2008, 09:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
wrw Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	1995 Oldsmobile 88 Fuel Gauge irratic. Recently the fuel guage in my 1995 Oldsmobile 88 started to go a little crazy. It seems to jump around about a 1/4 tank at a time and my son has no idea how much gas is left in the tank. I don't want him to run out of gas when he thinks he still has some in the tank. I have heard that there may be some sort of diode (on the sending unit???) that may be the problem. Does anyone have any information or advice? Thanks in advance.

06-27-2008, 12:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
dcraker Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 62 OS: Windows 2000	Re: 1995 Oldsmobile 88 Fuel Gauge irratic. does it do it only at certain times of the assumed level? If it's full, does it jump around? If it seems to be only at certain times of the fuel remaining repeatedly, then I would say that the contacts on the hangar assembly that holds the fuel pump it self could be dirty, if not damaged. did something happen prior to this, like a hard bump in the road, accident, been sitting for awhile, never had the gas go that low since it's been owned? __________________ Thanks, David If you cover it in chocolate, it'll look better.

06-30-2008, 04:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
wrw Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: 1995 Oldsmobile 88 Fuel Gauge irratic. My son says he never fills it all the way full. He filled it to about 3/4 full the other day and when he got back in the car he noticed that it had dropped about 1/4 tank then bounce back to a little more than 3/4. I drove it this weekend and it seems as though it is pretty steady at 1/4 and below although I'm not really sure how much gas is really in there.

06-30-2008, 08:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
dcraker Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 62 OS: Windows 2000	Re: 1995 Oldsmobile 88 Fuel Gauge irratic. well, i am going to assume that there is no problems from full tank to about 3/4 and again no problems from 1/4 to empty, from your response. you only have a problem between 3/4 and 1/4, I would liken to say that there is something wrong with the fuel level sending unit from the hangar assembly in the tank (dirty? broken? unsure because of limited information). But that is only a guess, the other thing you could do is do a resistance meter test at various stages of the tank, unless you drop the tank and play with the float level. sorry, i couldn't be much more help __________________ Thanks, David If you cover it in chocolate, it'll look better.

07-01-2008, 05:03 AM	#5 (permalink)
wrw Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: 1995 Oldsmobile 88 Fuel Gauge irratic. I will probably drop the tank this weekend and take a look at the sending unit. If I need to replace it that's what I'll do. Thanks for the help.