24 Fuel guage issue

My 2004 has developed an interesting fuel gauge issue. It works fine when completely full. And as I use fuel it drops normally until it reaches just above half when it freezes in place. I do get the low fuel idiot light but with the needle still stuck at 5/8. No other issues showed up with this. Any ideas?

 

Pull your fuel sending unit out of the gas tank and with a pencil eraser clean the contacts on the fuel sender worked for me a lot on other peeps cars and trucks

 

Mine is fine through the first 1/4 of the tank and then it randomly varies from correct reading to super low. Since I keep close track of my odometer, I know when its about time to get gas: ~225-250 miles since last fill up. But, it would be nice to have a properly functioning gauge.

 

Does this necessitate dropping the tank?

 

Would have to pull the sender and run some checks. You get the idiot light,,so there is contact at the bottom of the swing. Dirty job for someone.

The gauge could be bad, it's electro mechanical so anything is possible.

I would Junk yard first for all that stuff if needed and spendy for OEM stuff. Bundle package, for a better deal. Know your prices going in.

Make sure the tank is mounted tight,,you loose that common ground and it can do wacky things. The unit itself is grounded, but the tank can't move either. Check other grounds as well.

 

Lol. Trust me, it don't work worth a damn anyway. My fuel gauge sometimes has much as 3/8 tank error range.