Gas Gauge Not Working - 1993 Thunderbird LX 5.0

[Carson Kaiser]

Hey all,

This summer, I just bought my 2nd MN12 Thunderbird. It has 82,000 original miles on it, but needs a LOT of work (that’s okay, I wanted a project car). I acquired this bird for $825, with an extra set of rims and winter tires costing me another $100 ($925 total). When I purchased it, I was made aware of many of the broken or non working items on the car, one of which (there were many), was that the gas gauge reads full all the time. I have no idea how much fuel is in the vehicle at any given time, except by rough estimate of how much gas I filled the tank with last time I stopped for fuel. While not a huge issue, it’s really starting to drive me crazy. We have already replaced the fuel sending unit and filter due to an issue with the vehicle running too lean. I just don’t know really what else to do next. Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?

Picture of gauge cluster is attached below. Thanks in advance! 😀

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[Kitten]

I had that issue my fuel pump eventually went out with float not working for a long time be safe

 

[1TrueGambit]

Hey all,

This summer, I just bought my 2nd MN12 Thunderbird. It has 82,000 original miles on it, but needs a LOT of work (that’s okay, I wanted a project car). I acquired this bird for $825, with an extra set of rims and winter tires costing me another $100 ($925 total). When I purchased it, I was made aware of many of the broken or non working items on the car, one of which (there were many), was that the gas gauge reads full all the time. I have no idea how much fuel is in the vehicle at any given time, except by rough estimate of how much gas I filled the tank with last time I stopped for fuel. While not a huge issue, it’s really starting to drive me crazy. We have already replaced the fuel sending unit and filter due to an issue with the vehicle running too lean. I just don’t know really what else to do next. Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?

Picture of gauge cluster is attached below. Thanks in advance! 😀
View attachment 2433

check all the wiring from the fuel tank all the way to the the front of the car I've see some with this problem

 

[bfjou812]

Try checking the back of the gauge cluster circuit board. There is a smaller board on it in the area of the gas gauge. It is called a "slosh board" if I remember. It may have become unseated and needs to be reseated. I had issues with this before and that solved the problem.

 

[Bigalsbird]

My 93
Lx showed
Full
When its
Not
Then went
Correct now full what gives?

 

[64ZCODE]

I have a truck and what happened is that there is an internal baffle plate in the gas tank which broke loose and moved around, impinging on the gas sensor float and producing whacky readings. I had a new tank put in under warranty and the same thing happened. So I track mileage and add gas when I know I need to, just like we used to do with the VW bugs that didn't have gas gauges.

 

[Bigalsbird]

Thanks