Fuel guage inaccuracy

My '94 XJ's fuel guage has started to become wildly, and inconsistantly, inaccurate. If I fill my tank, the guage will read anywhere from three quarters full, all the way up to the full mark. The tank is topped off every time, and ground slope is not a factor. Also, when filling the tank, I've run the guage WAY down past Empty (1/4 inch past the red mark), and there's still been 3-4 gallons in the tank.

My '94 is a plain ol' SE model, so I have the big fuel guage in place of the tach. I've only noticed this really getting bad within the last 10K miles or so. (I have 160K now).

Will this require me to drop the tank and replace the sending unit? If so, I'll probably just live with it until the pump or sending unit goes completely. But if there's another reason, please let me know - thanks!

Andy

My 98 has been doing it for years and like you I'm waiting for the pump to go. At around 80mi after a fill up it drops to E then backup then drops, does a regular waving thing, then at 100 or so it stays on E then at 200 the low fuel light comes on, it beeps on every startup and stays on till I fill it again.

Mines not erratic. It just reads empty at 1/4 tank ever since I replaced the guage cluster.

I'd swear it was the sending unit in the tank, but it worked fine before I swapped guages.

I had the same problem on my 98 right after I bought it. It was the sending unit. The dealer replaced it, then 6 months later, it did it again. Thankfully, the dealer replaced it again, as the sending unit is a $350+ part for my year XJ, plu whatever they soak you for labor. I/we have had the same problem with every Chrysler product my family has owned, so in a nutshell, you're not the only one.

RichP - When my 98 XJ was doing this, I used an OBD scantool, and found that there was a code in there for it. It doesn't set off the "Check Engine" light, but the the computer does see it. Just an FYI.

Yikes - mine's not quite degraded to the point that you guys are describing, so I guess I'll just call myself lucky? I'll just have to keep an eye on the odometer (another pain in the ass, since the SE model doesn't have a trip odometer!!)

You guys might want to check for open recalls reguarding the fuel level issues you're having. Got mine fixed for free and didn't even know there was a potental problem.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46386

Frank Z said:

You guys might want to check for open recalls reguarding the fuel level issues you're having. Got mine fixed for free and didn't even know there was a potental problem.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46386

Click to expand...

Been there, done that, the recall for the 97+ XJ's only covered 97. Of couse mine was built in sep of 97 but it's a 98 model year, they wormed out again on a technicality... you gotta figure they used all the same parts in 97, 98 and 99 until there was a problem they needed to address then they covered as little as possible. The 98's have the SAME problem as the 97's do...the problem is nobody took them to court like the 97 owners, that fuel sender thing was a SAFETY issue, women running out of gas late a nite, deserted road, no cell service, etc and getting mugged, raped, murdered was how it was presented.
I guess no women bought them in 98....

That bites!