In this post, I’m focusing more on automotive than anything personal, because I know of a lot of people who have this problem or something similar. I figured I’d share some knowledge and save some people the time and trouble.
A friend of mine owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado and she asked me to fix the problem she’s having with it. Her fuel gauge says empty all the time and “fuel level low” lamp is always on, as well. Immediately I thought fuel pump or wiring, obviously. So, when she brought the truck to me at SOTC, the first test I ran was with our scan tool. We used the scan tool to activate the cluster gauges through the BCM (Body Control Module) This test turns all the gauges to a full position, so if there had been a wiring problem, all the gauges except for the fuel gauge would’ve been all the way to the right. Since it all went as expected, I moved forward with the testing. Well, actually to be honest.. my teacher and I basically just assumed that the sending unit inside the fuel tank, connected to the fuel pump, was the problem.
Once we knew what parts were needed, I went to the nearby NAPA store and ordered the sending unit which included the fuel level sensor, connecting arm, and floater. I went to NAPA because an Autozone or O’Reillys would not have carried that specific part. Anyway, my friend picked up the part and I dropped the fuel tank, only running into one small problem, which was a broken transmission jack that I had to stop and fix. While the fuel tank was lowered from the truck and sitting on the transmission jack, I removed the fuel pump and replaced the sensor and arm attachment with the new floater. After we put the tank back in place, I started the cycled the key on and off a couple times without starting the truck while my instructor watched for leaks, then when he gave me the green light, I started the truck and our problem was fixed! Hope that helped any of you out there with that problem!
A screenshot of the Snapchat that my friend sent me after she got her truck back!
And her Snapchat story…
