Flickering Fuel Gauge

[bigo011]

My "'79 450sl has a fuel gauge that shows empty most of the time, and then flickers up to 1/2-3/4 full and bounces back and forth between that and empty. Any suggestions

[winecountryone]

My car did this as well.The gauge cluster needs a good ground connection.If you pull the cluster out you can use contact cleaner and a pencil eraser to clean up the ground points.Worked wonders for me!

[bigo011]

Thanks! I'll give it a try!

[wolf_walker]

My w114 does that too now and again, just tends to jerk upwards for a few seconds and twitch before it settles down. I haven't pulled the cluster yet to see how it's grounded or where.

[todds]

My 67 did that too before I replaced the tank sender. It gets dirty due to old gas and buildup. If the gauge checks out, look at the sender. It's a very very common problem with any old car. A dirty fuel tank/bad gas causes all sorts of problems.

[flacollect]

I cleaned my sending unit, cuzz mine was doing the same thing. Works like new now.

[meltedpanda]

sending units can be cleaned, but must be done very carefully as the float and wires are very delicate

[JimFreeh]

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

sending units can be cleaned, but must be done very carefully as the float and wires are very delicate

Those wires are about the thickness of a human hair, and just as fragile!

Jim

[meltedpanda]

40 AWG Ni Chrome wire to be exact and yes it is thin