fuel gauge not working, intermittent

[theredmeadow]

So I was driving home yesterday from work and my fuel gauge stopped working 3/4 of the way there! It's been working this whole time but it just dropped to empty and won't read correctly. This morning when I was warming up the truck it was working but second I started driving it stopped working again. The only difference is that it's been raining here. Any other ideas? Loose wet connection?

[VetteVet]

Disconnect the tan wire that goes to the sender unit at the sender unit, and turn the key on. The fuel gauge should go over to way past full. If it stays on empty then disconnect the wire at the fuse panel on the terminal marked fuel. If it goes past full then, Your sending unit wire is grounded, probably under the drivers sill plate and is touching bare metal on the wire, to the sill plate.

Alternatively you can run a new tan wire temporarily from the sending unit to the fuse panel and see if the fuel gauge reads accurately while you are driving.

I was going to say that the float on the sending unit may be full of gas because they tend to get tiny holes in them over time, and fill up with gas, which keeps the float on the bottom of the tank and gives a false reading of empty. You said it reads ok until you start driving, which would rule that out.

[jocko]

Excellent ts description vv, I'm gonna earmark this thread. Thx.

[theredmeadow]

I think it might be my float. after a day it started working again but the needle changes slightly when i hit bumps, also it read fine this morning till i filled the tank. it read full, then read 3/4 but floated back and forth between full and 3/4. it reads correct currently. how can i check the float?