Does the low fuel warning light depend on position of the needle on gas gauge? for example, does the warning light come on only if the needle is at/or near E? or is it an independant system?

my gas gauge been acting funny today. it'll go from half, to E, to F and anywhere in between. i just top it off today, afraid of running out of gas. hopefully it's just a lose connection.

 

bump...

 

The fuel warning light is dependant on the float in the gas tank. It kind of acts as a back up to the fuel gauge. For example, if your fuel gauge gets a case of the a$$, and starts to swing back and forth (this happened to my '91 Sentra), it will not affect the low gas light.

Most likely, it is a bad electrical connection.

 

k, thanks for the info.

 

When I replaced my fuel pump, I cleaned the contacts on the level sensor (pretty much just wiped it clean and made sure the wiper was making good contact). The light seems to work better now.

 

the low fuel indicator is a small switch that's attached to the side of the fuel pump bracket.. whenever the fuel level drops below the sensor, it dries out and causes the low fuel light to come on. the gauge itself is a float connected to a varistor (variable resistor) that changes its resistance based on the fuel level.

for your problem, I sould suggest pulling the pump out and cleaning the connections on the level indicator. best way it usually to use a rubber pencil eraser. gently rub on the metal contacts to remove any deposits that have built up on it. blow off any chunksof rubber or anything, then put it back in. see how that does.

 

thanks

another quick question, would that be more a common cause than a wire coming loose behind the dash?

 

Actually I recently cleaned all the contacts in my guage cluster and had good results. The power/comfort switch started working properly. In the past the P light would not come on, on its own, when driving hard.

 

yup... unless you've been pulling on wires back there.. wires don't just "come loose" over time- not this much time anyway. had you driven it off a showroom floor a month ago, i'd say differently, but not after 10+ years.