I have never noticed it before, but when I started my car this morning I noticed that a couple of times that the needle on the fuel gage went all the way past the "R", as if the ignition was off. It did this twice briefly, then it went back and has worked fine since (at least today). What is the possibility here? Gage going bad, unit in tank bad, or loose connection/ground? My old Pontiac does this from time to time, but it goes past "F". I have been told it was a loose ground, but I have not had time to check it. I usually keep at least 1/2 tank in it.

Also- even when my cars tank is completely full, it only goes a little past 3/4. Strange.

Thanks in advance

Hi 86, I would suggest either the sending unit going bad or a loose connection/ bad ground.

Possible but v unlikely the gauge itself.

I would lean towards the sending unit given the erratic symptoms you describe.

Cheers

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1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

Thanks. It only did it twice within a minute time span. Never did it again throughout the day. I guess it is OK at least for now.

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2004 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4wd
1991 Lincoln Town Car Executive
1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1988 Mercedes 300SEL
1972 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate 9-passenger wagon
1973 Pontiac Grand Ville
(Prior MB's: 1974 240D, 1985 380SE, 1984 190D, 1993 400SEL)

My 85 380SE did the same thing when I purchased it last year. I ran Techron through twice and now the gauge works perfectly. My car was not driven very much by the previous owners and I think deposit buildup on the sending unit causes it to work erractically. My gauge would jump around after it reached about 3/4 level.

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95 E420 ( 76K) SOLD
85 380SE(125k)
95 SL500(72k)