calibrating fuel gauge?

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- Hamilton Audio
  
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posted
20 years ago

Sun, Oct 5, 2003 6:06 PM

the fuel gauge in my 91 Z71 K1500 seems to be off. its a new tank/sending unit/fuel pump as of last year. When I fill the truck RIGHT full (will not accept any more fuel), the needle doesn't go right to full.

consequently, when the gauge goes to E, there's what I feel to be at least

1/8 tank left or more...obviously the calibration is off. the needle isn't erratic or anything, but seems that its calibrated a little too low...

can these things be reset and calibrated? I'm tired of guessing how much gas is actually left in the truck past E by "how much the needle bounces back on acceleration"....

b

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- "Doc"
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Oct 6, 2003 1:50 AM

No way to calibrate. Use yer' odometer and keep track of miles per tank as opposed to guessing.............

Doc

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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Oct 7, 2003 1:30 AM

gonna have to...seems the truck is levelling out now...ran er almost dry the other day (surging on the way into the gas station!)...so now with $20 worth at an average of below 0.80 c/litre, I can click off a guaranteed 130 km. I lose the needle alright, and can now judge literally by how much the needle surges back on light acceleration...when it doens't bounce back, its time for gas!!!

b

tank/sending

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- "Doc"
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Oct 7, 2003 2:21 AM

Hamilton,

Yer' gunna cook yer' fuel pump that way. In case you missed it the first time, here;s how to correctly calculate MPG's.

1) Fill up to full (first stop, do not top off). 2) Reset odometer. 3) Run it down to 1/2 or 1/4 tank. 4) Fill it up to full (first stop) at the same pump as in step #1. 5) Divide km's by litres, that is your km per litre (aka fuel ecomony) 6) Reset trip and do it all over again.

Doc

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- Steve W.
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Oct 7, 2003 11:43 PM

Well you could pull the trim and move the needle on the shaft of the gauge with the tank full, OR put a potentiometer in parallel , fill the tank till the pump stops then dial in some resistance till the gauge reads full. Shouldn't take a lot across the gauge to bring it up. Once you find the amount you could replace it with a fixed value resistor rated for higher wattage.