1998 Chrysler Town and Country Irratic gas guage

KACO

MEMBER
1998 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
183,000 MILES

My van got backed into by my gas door. After that, everytime I filled my tank, my gas guage dial and readout would start going to empty; then back up to full and occasionally show the correct amount. It was a constant up and down on the gas guage. The body shop didn't see any dents in the gas tank and didn't see anything knocked loose from the dent.
So my husband changed the complete fuel pump, sending unit and float all included. It has the same irratic behavior and even worse. I have run out of gas twice now. I have to set the trip guage on the dash board to actually know how many miles I can drive before going empty.
I read your answers to same problem on your site and we've done all that and still have the problem. The new fuel pump came with a new sending unit and a new float. (AutoZone) So all that has been replaced and like I said, it's even worse than before it got changed.
What else could be causing the problem?

Thank You
Tired of getting Stranded

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Hi:

Since the accident, has anyone checked the wiring? My first guess would have been the fuel pum assy, but since you changed that it's time to move on. If I had to guess, there is a problem with the ground wire. Chrysler uses a plastic tank; therefore, the ground is through the wiring. I have a feeling you have a broken wire that is making contact at time and not others.

The only way to check is to remove the tank and use a test light / voltage meter while moving the wireing harness around to see if there is a change in the power supply. If there is, you need to work backwards until you find the source of the problem.

Good luck,
Joe