Fuel sending unit problems?

[tdakota96]

alright so ive been having an issue with my gas gauge lately and so far, ive had no luck in fixing it. ive been counting miles and watching my "gallons used" on the panel. now my gauge is always on E and the light is always on, and its been like that since i bought the truck. Now a little while after i bought it the cluster panel started acting up and i was hoping that having it rebuilt would also fix the gauge, but unfortunately it didnt. this leads me to believe that its the fuel sending unit. because on the panel on the fuel range in miles it says fuel level low. but on the screen that counts how many gallons youve used since you last filled up, it still will tell me how many i have used and i can judge how much gas i have based on what that number is, but today i had forgot that i didnt reset the gauge right away, and ran out of gas because i thought that i still had 2 gallons left in the tank. so you can see why i want to get it fixed because i dont want to run out of gas on the side of the road again. so heres the question. now i have a 2004 silverado gasser, 4.8 V8 2wd ext cab with a 26 gal tank. i found a universal fuel sending unit (im guessing made origionally for a boat) in the marine center at Bass Pro. do you think that it would be entirely possible to make that sending unit work? or should i just shell out the money to get it from an auto parts store?

sorry for the long post, but i had a lot of info to give

 

thanks!

 

[txab]

By the correct unit for the vehicle. Replace the pump and sending unit at the same time

[MikeInCtown]

You have a 26 gallon tank and thought you had 2 gallons left. Even if you reset the trip meter right away there are lots of reasons why you may have gone through those 2 extra gallons. My logic is that if your gauges aren't working right, don't ever get that close to getting screwed.

 

Oh, and yeah just buy the correct sending unit. (need to put one in my truck as well since it will drop from full to half a tank in 100 miles, yet if I add gas, it will take 5-6 gallons)

[skooby]

I had a similar problem last month mine was reading on the high side read on a website to try a tank of shell premium so far my gauge is working ok worth a shot good luck and aloha