Sticking gas guage? (2000 Ford Escort ZX2)?

Question

Last Thursday when I went to the gas station, my needle was close to "E". The fill-up was weird, the auto-off thing kept clicking off even though I could see that I had not put enough gas in to fill up the tank. The attendant at the gas station said I probably had a lot of gas vapor in the tank/line which was causing the machine to click off. Now I'm wondering if I did something to my gas guage because it appears to be sticking. I usually get about 300-310 miles per tank, I'm currently at 270 and the guage shows that I have 1/3 of a tank left. I just don't think it could possibly be right. Is it possible to damage the "floater" by overfilling?

I've read different ideas about how to fix a stuck floater, or the guage or whatever. Ranging from additives to hitting the bottom of the tank with a rubber mallot. Or should I just try filling it up again and see if it fixes itself? When I shut the car off the needle doesn't go down to "E", but I can't remember if it's supposed to.

Answer 1

the float meter that registers thae amount of gas is in the gas tank proper. It is abig job to change one because of the gasoline itself.

I'm not a big fan of smacking a gasoline tank with anything.

If its a metal tank and there is a little rust inside the bottom of the tank you will only loosen it up,,send it eventually to the gas filter,,,and get yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere with a plugged up filter.

I wpould change the float because even if you do free it up thats no guarantee later on,,,,,,,and get yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere with an empty gas tank.

Answer 2

Go ahead and fill up now so you don't risk running out of gas. Chances are that nothing is wrong. The gas station guy is probably right that the filler couldn't breath and the pressure shut off the pump.

The way gas gauges work is sort of complicated. There is electricity sent in a wire to your "floater" (called a sending unit). When the gas is at different levels the resistor on the sending unit sends different amounts of electricity up to the gauge. This electricity heats up a metal unit in the gauge that causes it to move. The pump shutting off probably caused you to fill the tank more than you normally do and that's why you've gone more miles on this tank. Fill your tank again and see what happens this time?