hello all, im new to the forum. i bought a 2002 dodge caravan with a 3.3L v6. 4 speed automatic. 114,000 miles as of last night. i have the build sheet if needed. the problem is, if you fill the van the gauge reads full. you travel 250 miles and the gauge reads empty and the fuel light comes on. at first i thought this van has horrible mileage, but then i filled it with ten gallons to the top. so im thinking either the fuel sending unit, gauge, or a combo of the two is going, or my tank is half what the build sheet says it is. anything is useful at this point. thanks all!

 

The problem is that there is high resistance in the system causing the guage to read incorrectly. Spent many a painful day trying to figure that one out back in the day. Where the vehicle harness plugs into the fuel pump module is kind of a jumper. The fuel sending unit plugs into the same place on the under side of the pump. That jumper is the piece that goes bad so you actually have to replace the entire fuel pump module to correct the condition.

 

so im looking at a fair bit of money and a trip to the dealer arnt i?

 

If you are mechanically handy you can change the fuel pump your self. You will need to get the rear of the xcar in the air (ramps or jack stands) and lower the fuel tank (burn fuel way down first) a bit to give you room to remove the fuel pump. Auto Zone has a repair section (you must register but it is free) with pictures and text on this operation or get back to us and we will help. I did this to my '96 several years ago so I am one person on this site that can offer advice.