Fuel Gauge

[AnaJ]

Please help a girl in need. Recently my fuel gauge will drop down to zero but the engine seems to be working fine. Does this mean I need to change the O2 sensor....or something else?

Thanks for your help!

[Platanos]

Are you having any other symptoms?

[1996 328ti]

A fuse or fuel sensor will cause that problem.
A fuse will also cause other gauges not work.

[AnaJ]

No other symptoms except that right before the fuel gauge drops, I notice a little shiver in the engine. Then the gauge drops for a few seconds and then returns to where it was.

[1996 328ti]

How old is the battery?

[AnaJ]

Battery is a few months old.

[Platanos]

Is your check engine light on?

[AnaJ]

no, the check engine light is not on.

[Monolith]

Next time it drops to zero, try tapping on the gauge cluster near the fuel gauge and see if it responds to the tapping at all.

[aceyx]

It sounds like an electrical short or some other gremlin.

Take note of the circumstances surrounding each time the problem occurs. i.e. if it is raining, if it only happens when shifting, only when cruise is on, etc.

Did you only recently start using the AC?

[AnaJ]

yeah, I guess it has been in the last few weeks that I've been using the AC.......it still wasn't that hot. I will pay attention to what's going on when the problem occurs. It does seem to be an electrical issue.

Thank you!

[atlanta318ti]

I had the same issue. A loose electrical connection most likely. If I tap the cluster it returns to normal.

[RedDog]

I have the same problem sometimes. For me it is usually when I am at stop light it will drop to empty for a few seconds than return. If you use the computer to check the range it either shows the range before it fell or the numbers go all over the place. Since I have only had the car for three months and have a few more important car projects I have not worried about it but I am sure it is some kind of an electrical problem. I will be interested to see what leads in this forum. Thank y'all.

[70boss2]

Mine has just started doing strange things with the fuel gauge. It will go to full then drop to empty. I tried A/C on off, lights on off windows, fan speed, radio, wipers. No connection to any other electical activity. I pulled and replaced the fuse to see it would help. Now the OBC will not reset. So I've unpugged the OBC. No help. I've checked the resistance on the fuel sensors. They each read about 180 ohms (unplugged) with about 1/2 tank. Does anyone know what they should read? The vehicle speed indication is fine (this shares a ground connection with the fuel sensors) . No other issues.

I hope someone has figured this out. I'm stuck.
My next move will be to drive around with a volt meter connected to the circuit.

[70boss2]

After posting here, I continued to search other posts. I found the answer!
It doesn't make any sense, but I had a blown brake light fuse (15A, #46)
That fixed it. (It blew because my tail light assembly fell out!)