Fuel gauge problem

[Jonrock2]

My transmission on my 1994 Lincoln Continental was recently rebuilt. Now I have noticed that the fuel gauge is showing conflicting numbers for gallons left. For example when I drive the car only a short distance, the numbers on the gauge will go down 3 or 4 gallons. Then when I start the car up after it has been stopped for a while, the gauge will show 13 or 14 gallons in the tank, now matter how much gas is actually in the tank. My mechanic insists hat he never touched anything that had anything to do with the fuel sending sysem, but the problems started after I had the transmission rebuilt.

[Fordace]

your mechanic is probably telling you the truth, (imagine that)I'd look for a loose ground strap to start off with. I believe there's one on the back of the engine that goes to the firewall, maybe he took it off when he hung the engine to drop the tranny.....other than that, I'd say fuel sender problem, or wiring....but I'm thinking bad ground at this point.....

[KENDO & MYRA]

welcome to the club,mine does the same thing and i think its the sending unit,the only problem is that the sending unit is part of the fuel pump so the whole pump has to be replaced,i have to do mine when i get the time,this should be a 350.00 job..............sorry

[brasolt03]

Mine has very similar issues but I don't think it's either the sending unit or a grouding issue but instead in the dash cluster itself When I did the dcl tuneup in the tech section this solved all my dash including the inacurate fuel gauge problems for about a month but now all of them have returned I can not go one mile without my dash beeping at me!!!!! I am seriously thinking of taking MTB's offer and me sending the dash down and having him rework everything and me just drive my Jimmy for a month!

Brasolt03

[MichiganTeddyBear]

A month?? sheesh, If I get to the point where it takes me that long to get one done, I should quit my day job... figure a week in my hands at the most. I would say 1 day, but I do have a life other than day job and feeding my 91 parts

[brasolt03]

I didn't mean to make you sound slow! I just figured with work and such this would allow enough time! But if I get my jimmy back on the road I will send the dash down and give you 50 dollars if you can fix it! Probably some time in June MTB!

[MichiganTeddyBear]

I actually have so many of these dashes piled up waiting on repair that it will take... lemme see, you would be #1 on the list!

Actually, the only one I have fixed is from my 91, but so many people have exactly the same problems with theirs that I can't believe they are having different issues... I mean EXACTLY the same problem..

try this.. when you get the dcl error, push gently(but firmly) between the 2 left displays for a second or so.. if it goes away (it may come back when you release it), then it is identical to mine.. just behind them 2 displays is where the connectors are that have the problems.

[KENDO & MYRA]

id like to get a new one,anyone know where i can get a new cluster

[MichiganTeddyBear]

you will be very lucky to find a NEW one.. best be, a bone yard.. btw, it will cause the odometer on the car to be wrong.. its stored inside the dash. a dealer might be able to reset it, but probably not cheap.

[Jonrock2]

I thought that the gauge would automatically reset itself.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

Iam not 100% positive, but I think the memory for the odometer is in the dash cluster. It could be in the EEC, and communicated to the dash via the DCL, but on second thought, if you had a check DCL error, where the communication with the eec was lost, so would the odo operation (I know my odo kept working while there was no communication between the EEC and dash ie Check DCL).

[98TC-Cartier]

88-89 odo readings are kept in the cluster, not sure avout newer models. I swapped in an 89 cluster, fits and the display is much brighter.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

your old display may have needed new light bulbs. ford in there infinate wisdom chose to light the 3 lcd modules (left, center and right) with incandescent bulbs. Either old bulbs or dirty contacts can cause them to be dim.

[Jonrock2]

OK, where are the ground wires located? Are they hard to find or fix?

[98TC-Cartier]

The factory bulbs were little halogen ones, and like $20 each at the stealer. Even now, they are around $8 each if you buy a box of 10. Wagner resell/make them.

The Early 88 Contis had a low contrast display. It was bad enough that the dealer would replace it no charge if you complained loudly.
It was unreadable if you wore dark tinted sunglasses.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

the displays are unreadable if you use polarized lenses too... the polarized light from the lcd's is polarized the wrong way

[Jonrock2]

I got another problem. Now, on my fuel gauge, CO (Circuit Open) appears occasonally. What does that mean and how can I fix it?

[Steve Moran]

Check the connection at the fuel sender on the fuel tank and on the inst cluster.