"I just filled a Olds Intrigue ('98) with fuel and changed the battery, after which time I noticed the fuel needle is now up past the peg which is supposed to stop it at the full mark. It appears the peg sticks out far enough past the height of the needle that I don't see how the needle could have gotten up past it. Is the only way to correct this to take the dash apart? Or did it do some kind of sweeping motion when I re-installed the battery to cause this and hence there is something to be done other than dash removal? TIA"
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Paul wrote, "Kind of unusual. A power surge would have caused other damage, also. It could be the sending unit is shot but that would not send excess voltage to the dash unit. Are the other things on the instrument panel working ok? I forgot whether it reads high or low when you ground the wire going to the gauge. Best to check that too before repairing or replacing the dash part"
***************************************** The chronology is that I filled car with gas, then noticed it starting hard, like the battery was low. Since there was no MIL for battery/charging malfunction (or anything else) I simply swapped in a spare battery I had.
It still started poorly and it was then that I noticed the fuel gauge needle above the peg.
Next I tried yet another battery, known to be good, and it wouldn't turn over hardly at all.
Then I took the starter to an O'Reilly's and had them bench test it. The test indicated "GOOD" but the counter guy commented that it was shot anyway, as it turned noticeably slow -- which I thought as well.
So I bought a rebuilt and it starts OK, but now both the red BRAKE light and the yellow ABS light are lit on the dash. Then, after driving it a few minutes, the "battery" icon lit up also. Sure enough a voltmeter on the battery only shows about 11.6 volts with engine running.
I haven't had a chance to look at fuses, and I presume and HOPE it is something like that.
Are things like this to be expected when you do a job like this without one of those things you plug into the lighter to maintain some voltage in the system? What would cause all those systems to malfunction just from disconnecting the battery and changing the starter?