Just bought my first dodge ram 1500 with a 5.2 the other day and its an awsome truck but my fuel guage on the truck doesn't work its a 96 model the guy told me it quit back in 2000 i was wondering if anyone has had this problem and how it may be fixed? thanks

 

welcome to DF. if theres anything i can help you with shoot me a PM. I have the same problem. mine went out on me too. the bad part is. when i pulled it apart there way no wires loose or anything to fix it. if you want it fixed you need to go out and buy the hole fuel pump assembly. which is big bucks. if you would like to find one look for our sponsor MakeitMopar. he has alot of great stuff and is cheaper then the dealers.

http://www.makeitmopar.com/

 

^ What Tani1500 said...99.8% is an internal issue with the fuel pump/sending unit assy., the other .2% could be a wiring issue, or a gauge malfunction.

 

yup i have a hard time seeing it just being a loose wire but it might be worth pulling the gauges out and seeing just in case... be really nice for a simple fix.. but HIGHLY doubt it.

gonna have to say/agree it's the sending unit. big problems..

you might try getting one at a junk yard that worked... probably a hell of a lot cheaper than dealer. just no warrenty, and you have to do it yourself.

 

my fuel gauge stopped working one week too. It was right after i got back from vacation and i had been letting my freind use my truck to move some things. When i got back i assumed he filled it up for me which was the right thing to do, the truck died on me about 10 miles away from his house and i had to get towed i was on a bridge it was rediculous. The fuel gauge said it was 3/4 full and i never even thought about the possibility of not having any gas. But never the less i ran out of gas and my fuel pump went bad when i did. So you may want to look into replacing the fuel pump anyway seeing as how it will start to give you problems in the near future, and you dont want to get stuck on a bridge waiting for a tow truck.

 

These trucks are notorious for having FSU problems (fuel sending units), and in most cases, as stated before, the best thing to do is replace your whole pump. However, in one of the many ingenious chrysler designs, fuel filter/pump/SU assemblies are all...INSIDE your gas tank. Like tani said, big bucks. i keep a pad of paper in my console and log my fillups, and just guesstimate math to know when i really need to fill up. mine hasn't completely taken a dump yet, it just usually reads 1/4 tank when the thing is actually bone dry. figure 500 for the sending unit, upwards of 900 for the whole pump/filter/su assembly shabang.

 

makeitmopar.com lists it as $247.50 for the whole shabang, napaonline lists one as $275...it's best if you know someone that works at a parts store, about $150-$175 is the price I can get them foe from Napa

 

Chrysler fuel senders that are inside the fuel tank use a silver alloy on the strip that the float's slider rubs against to vary the electrical resistance that works the gas gauge.

Sulfur in gasoline (or diesel) can foul or 'poison' this Chrysler part much easier than GM or Ford's sender.

You can read about this sulfur killing DCX fuel gauges at these weblinks:

http://web.archive.org/web/200206110...er/3378552.htm

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/bad_fuel.txt

As others have said, you may be stuck having to replace the fuel unit.

On Diesel Truck Resource and Turbo Diesel Register some Ram owners have reported that they have been able to clean and fix the resistor slider - but only after pulling it from the tank.

It is only 50/50 chance
but you might be able to get the fuel gauge working again by using a heavy concentration
of a cleaner like Chevron Techron, Napa's "Kleen" or a few cans of official Mopar Fuel Injection cleaner from the Dodge dealership. Whether to spend $18-36 in a gamble to see if it would avoid buying a new in-tank unit is up to you.

Over on another forum (Moparts) there is a long time poster who goes by Mr P Body who claims he was in charge of testing many fuel injector cleaners in order to choose the official one Mopar uses, which he claims works significantly better.

The newer version of Chevron's cleaner (Techron Concentrated) mentions improving fuel sender operation after sulfur fouling.

 

I'd lower the tank and check the float. I have a 95' CTD and it had three floats that broke. There is/was a redesigned unit made in 97, I believe.

Good luck.

 

ahhh fiveltrbtr showed me up, didn't cha? lol...i was quoted 8 something to get the whole thing done at the shop, not just for the part. my bad for not clarifying.