04 Dakota V8 4x4 - had rear elevated on jackstands for a few days while I worked with the differential. Got everything back together and squared away but now my fuel gauge is stuck on E , was at about 1/2 a tank when I started working on it, been driving it around and filled it up today. No movement on the gauge. Looking for recommendations on what you think happened and where to start troubleshooting.

 

You can try doing a reset by pulling the battery cable overnight, which could help a gauge issue. Really though, it sounds like the float arm got stuck in the down position inside the gas tank. Maybe banging on gas tank might help. Other than that, you may have to pull the fuel pump and pull up the arm to free it.

Edit: Just thought of something... maybe hitting the brakes hard a few times while going slowly in forward or reverse, may make the gas slosh around enough to free up the float.

 

I would smack the tank a few times with a rubber mallet near the rear quarter of the tank. The plastic of the housing sometimes gets a bit gummy after 20 years. Its probably stuck from it not having direct fuel touching it. Worst case you may have to drop the tank and manually free it.

 

Thanks!