vet85

first my gauge is going crazy .then after about 100 miles i figured what the heck ill fill it up to see if the gauge will move .well i couldnt put any fuel in ...none . but the gauge says it is 3/4 full so now what ......im just about ready to pull out both tanks and just change everything ......but first im going to put a scanner on it ....but im still curious which tank goes dry first.and which tank actually sends the fuel foward to the engine.thank u very much.

byronhunter

An electric high pressure fuel pump attaches to the fuel sender assembly inside the left fuel tank. The fuel pump pumps fuel to the fuel rail assembly at a specified flow and pressure. Excess fuel from the fuel pressure regulator, a part of the fuel filter, returns to the left fuel tank through the return pipe. The fuel pump delivers a constant flow of fuel to the engine even during low fuel conditions and aggressive vehicle maneuvers. The PCM controls the electric fuel pump operation through a fuel pump relay.

The left tank fuel pump also supplies a small amount of pressurized fuel to the right fuel tank siphon jet pump through the fuel feed rear crossover pipe. The pressurized fuel creates a venturi action inside the siphon jet pump. The venturi action causes the fuel to be drawn out of the right fuel tank. Fuel is then transferred from the right fuel tank to the left fuel tank through the fuel sender fuel feed pipe.

vet85

thank u very much

vet85

yep its crazy --3/4 full and would not take any gas ........

wkndwarrior

had this exact same issue....pumped gas til it clicked like 3-4 times.....got in car 3/4 full....thought i was doing something wrong cause i had just bought the car back then.

did several of the 20oz techron additive treatments and now all is well.....it did act up a time or two since with the dropping to zero but another techron treatment when it does as well as filling up with chevron ultimate and it is fine now.....goes to full when i fill up.....doesn't drop to zero out of no where. maybe in my head but my dropping to zero usually happens when i let it go til like under 1/4 tank, not sure if it is picking up more trash then or what

hope this helps

DB97

I just bought a '97 coupe in August and the seller alerted me to this problem. I started putting in the additive, but haven't driven enough miles to correct this. My gauge drops to zero only after about 25 miles of continuous driving.

My question is this ... can the electronics see this as a problem and cut off the fuel supply to the engine, even though there is enough fuel, or is it just a problem of the gauge readout? I also noticed that when the gauge goes to zero all related readouts on the DIC also drop out.

Thanks!

99 vett babycar

that last part - "all related readouts on the DIC also drop out."
Sounds different. I've had the "fuel gauge" problem before (techron fixed it) but when my gauge read Empty the "check gauges" warning came up but all other readings/gauges remained constant.

Have you pulled your codes? If you have any, post 'em.

Quick Silver Z

Eh, nothing to it!

(1.34mb download)

http://www.flaglercountycorvetteclub...%20Article.pdf

DB97

The only current codes are 1431, which is the Fuel Level Sensor 2 Circuit Performance and probably came up the last time the gauge failed, and 1571.

The DIC functions that fail with the gauge are mileage range and instant mileage, so I'm guessing that these are fed by the same circuit that goes down with the gauge.

I can live with this as long as I know that the sensor problem doesn't cause an engine shut down. Kinda surprised that a fault like this didn't prompt a recall. I've never ever had a car with a gas gauge that suddenly drops out, but most have been Hondas or Acuras, and pretty much nothing ever goes wrong!

Appreciate the help! Thanks.

byronhunter

DB97, you can still drive it. You can also clear the codes while driving, and most times the guage comes back up.

DB97

Thanks! Will try that the next time it happens.

glassman74

Good reading. glassman74

Bill Dearborn

The explanation basically told you that they keep the tanks as close to equal as possible. If they didn't it would really change the balance of the car as it was being driven. Maybe not noticeable on the street but would be a real PIA on a road course. Probably would screw things up at a drag strip as well.

Bill

lionelhutz

Simple logic says the right tank must empty first or the pump would run dry. So, by extension, the jet pump must pump fuel out of the right tank faster than the engine uses it, meaning the jet pump is always attempting to pump the right tank empty. When both tanks are fairly full I expect the fuel is pumped to the left tank and then travels back through the crossover to the right tank. The right tank will then be sucked dry once about 1/2 of the fuel is used and fuel no longer flows back through the crossover tube to the right tank.

The filler dumps into the left tank and there is another hose about the size of the filler neck that allows fuel to flow over to the right tank. So, it doesn't matter which tank is empty since they will both fill at the station.

I do find it odd that the OP says he drove 100 miles and couldn't pump a drop of fuel into the car. The car should have taken at least 4 gallons of fuel by then, assuming he did mixed driving which is almost always <25mpg. There should have been room for a little over 3 gallons of fuel even if he drove all highway miles at 29mpg.

Peter

vet85

thats why i was asking all these questions .i went in the neighborhood of 100 maybe 125 miles at best and could not put any fuel in ....it really wouldnt b a big deal just yank out the tanks and replace all or everything and b done with it .but ive had a cough from hell and dont want to push my luck getting out in the cold air ...2nd to that the car is gonna b in a parade friday night and i got to go back about 50 miles to get the car there .....i sure dont want to run out of gas cause im gonna let the girls dad drive the car .....but i think im ok because i should still have about 200 miles of gas still in it ....because i havnt driven it (trying to save the fuel thats in it )it couldnt have picked a better time to screw up ..oh well .ill just pray for a good outcome .thank u all very much for ur replies .and ill keep my fingers crossed ....and try one more time to fill er up .

seering

If it makes you feel any better.

We had a quicktrip locally that i tried 3 different pumps one morning that all acted like it was full .. couldn't add any gas at all.
I thought it was the pump .. maybe the pair at this spot ..
Ok apparently its all of them or the car.
Was one of those morning i just happened to look down and thing .. damn I dont want to walk


Drove across the street to the racetrack ... filled it up with no problems.


Moral of this story ... make sure you try a different station before you spend too much time on it.

fxdl

Your fuel guage is just lying to you. Do the techron additive and it will probably clear up. Happened to me before and that fixed it. Don't be too quick to start tearing it apart.

vet85

ok guys thanks for reading ill try another pump