Fuel level sensors

[G.T]

so there are two fuel level sensors, one on the pump assembly (driver side) and one on its own (passenger side) in 2005+ mustangs.
is there an easy way of telling which one has gone bad when the fuel level gauge on the dash starts reading erratically (dropping to empty after a hard turn, or getting stuck on a certain reading randomly, etc)?

i'm tempted to remove both modules and clean the contacts.. but might as well just take out the culprit if i can log the reading of the individual sensors and figure out which one is acting up

 

[retfr8flyr]

I have an 06 and would like to know this as well. Mine starts going to empty, with a low fuel warning, when it get to 1/2 tank. It works normal until then.


Earl

 

[JeremyH]

Passenger side reads full to half and drivers side reads half to empty.(our tanks are divided and the p-side empties first.)

There is also a stepper motor issue in the cluster that can cause similiar problems, theres a tsb for it.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Wasn't there something different about the 10's that does not make them compatabile with the 05-09 fuel pumps? Or they will work but not read the level correctly?

 

[Department Of Boost]

All you need to do is probe the signal wires for the senders and check the resistance. I think the sensor range is 60-160ohm.

 

[G.T]

Passenger side reads full to half and drivers side reads half to empty.(our tanks are divided and the p-side empties first.)

There is also a stepper motor issue in the cluster that can cause similiar problems, theres a tsb for it.

i think if the issue was in the stepper motor, the miles to empty reading wont be affected.. just the level indicator, correct?

All you need to do is probe the signal wires for the senders and check the resistance. I think the sensor range is 60-160ohm.

that's what i'll be doing, but since this car tends to get stuck on full or near full i guess i'll have to start with the passenger side

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Or if the float gets caught/stuck that can lead to erronuos readings.

 

[LuckyFlyingROUSH]

I had the same problem and it was the float. Take the pumps out, and when you put them back in make sure the float is facing the passenger side and is loose and you can wabble it around.

 

[G.T]

i can imagine this happening after a bad pump install but i can't see how the float could go wrong in a properly seated pump that's worked for years!
how did yours go wrong?

 

[Vapour Trails]

i can imagine this happening after a bad pump install but i can't see how the float could go wrong in a properly seated pump that's worked for years!
how did yours go wrong?

My passenger side float got stuck after an autocross event. Basically the gauge was stuck on full, until the pass. side tank was empty. The gauge would always read 1/2 tank more than actual.

I removed the pass. side pump and tested the float with a multimeter through the range of motion and it checked out fine. I reinstalled it and it worked perfectly again. The only answer I could come up with was it got stuck in the "up" position.

It was an easy fix, took maybe 20 minutes.

 

[gremlin190]

I kinda have this issue too, but it seems to happen when I have a 1/4 tank or less and the car has been running less than 5 minutes. Once the car has gone a little while, the gauge will go back to the correct reading. I haven't felt any loss of power during the times when it beeps, but it will beep on a slightly hard turn.

 

[ethic1]

I had the same exact issue after pump install. The hose coming from the passenger side got kinked when being re-installed.