So I got the little Neon a Temporary tag so I can drive it whithout the fear of a ticket while I finish troubleshooting the emmissions failure. Well, about fifteen minutes after I got my shiney new registration the car ended leaving me stranded on the side of the road. After getting it towed home I put about 5 gallons in it and was able to get it started with a little effort. I drove it to the gas station and was able to put another 6.7 gallons in. So I am pretty sure that the car ran out of gas and died, however the needle still read as though it had an eight of a tank of gas.

I recently put a new fuel pump in the car. Could this new pump be installed a little sideways causing the issue or what would cause my gauge to read incorrectly?

 

The gauge sensor is on the side of the canister. If the canister is in there wrong, or you bent the float arm it could cause the gauge to read off. Did the gauge work before you touched the fuel pump?

 

I had the same problem when I did mine, What apparently happens to the float position sensor (at least based on visual inspection) is the metal contacts on the canister get rubbed together by the metal contact on the arm when not completely submerged. This allows more voltage to make it across the range of contacts so the gauge thinks the float is in a different position then it actually is. You'll see it on a multimeter if that is the case (look up the range for your particular pump because sometime during '96 they switched from metal to plastic tank and altered the pump slightly).
The other thing I noticed on this pump is that the float itself can spin upside-down at the end of the arm, so you'll want to pay attention to what it looks like when you take it out.
Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply's! I have decided to live with the issue for now and revisit the problem at a later date. If I end up fixing the issue I will post what I find to be the problem.