Gas Gauge woes

[89BADBURB]

Hello, I recently replaced my dash pad in my 89 burb. I had some dust and a old crusty spider behind the gauge lens. So I took it apart and took a soft rag with my finger and wiped off what I could. I ever so slightly bumped the gas gauge needle a couple of times. And it was minor. Anyways. It doesn’t read right now. I’ve driven it and gotten fuel hoping it would correct itself… it reads more than it should at first and seems to come down as I cruise some. But unsure of what the accurate reading is anymore which sucks. How can I fix this?

 

[89BADBURB]

Am I the only dummy who has bumped the gas needle? Lol

 

[Rickf]

Your fuel gauge issue may not be related to needle bumping. Google "GM fuel gauge troubleshooting" and start there.

Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, he eats for life.

 

[75gmck25]

There are kits out there to replace your gauge background with white dials, so I assume those kits tell you how to remove and replace the gauge needles. Maybe that would be useful.

Some repair manuals used to list the resistance values you should use to calibrate each type of gauge. For example, use a 90 ohm resistor on a gas gauge and it should point to a specific mark on the gauge. I haven’t seen that info in manuals posted on this site, but it might be available other places.

 

[89BADBURB]

I will check into that. I find it hard to believe i didn’t cause it since it was immediately after I noticed it

 

[89BADBURB]

But crazy things can happen could be a coincidence too