Fuel Gauge malfunction

[Derek Adamson]

2005 Chevrolet Silverado

4x4 Z71

5.3 Gasoline

Looking for some help, I’ve talked to a few different shops about the problem I’m having.

Basically my fuel gauge isn’t working it always reads empty, and before it was completely shot, it would read normally and shut off, only to come back on a few minutes later. One day it shut off, and never came back on, so I assumed it was the fuel sending unit, so I replaced the fuel pump with a Delphi, I had the same issue so I returned it for an ACDelco because I’ve had experiences with the Delphi pumps being defective, but after I replaced the Delphi with the ACDelco I still had the same problem, I just replaced the Instrument cluster last year so I’m not thinking that’s the problem, the electrical is all plugged in and there is no corrosion whatsoever. Like I’ve said I’ve taken it to shops and everyone tells me the same thing, that they’re mind boggled and can’t figure it out.. I’m stumped too. Ive looked at everything I’ve thought to look at, maybe someone can approach this at a different angle and give me some ideas of what I can do to find the issue.

thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

if you need to know anything else about the truck I will answer.

[davester]

if you have an advanced code reader, you could look at what the bcm see's for fuel level.  this would tell you if the problem is between the bcm and the fuel tank or the bcm and the instrument panel.  You probably can also use it to command the fuel level to a specific value, that would tell you how well the gauge on the instrument panel responds.

 

you could also find the wiring diagram for your truck and find the pins on the bcm plugs for fuel level, then put an ohmmeter on those pins to see what kind of reading you get.  Shouldn't be a short or open connection, but don't know the ohm range (maybe get a subscription to the full-service manual at a site like alldatadiy.com for that info, particularly if you are going to keep and work on the truck yourself).