Fuel gauge suddenly drops,comes back, then drops again?

[S3THUNDER]

Hi,
Last week I jumped into my car and was unable to get it going. I managed to jump start it and drive off with the alarm going on and off. At the same time my fuel gauge was fluctuating. Then after about half an hour the alarm stopped and the gauge settled. I'm surprised the battery went flat so quickly, as the battery is new and I thought it had been used about two weeks ago.I took her for a run today and she fired up ok,but later the fuel gauge suddenly dropped again. Any ideas?
Thanks Mark

[magpies]

check and clean all the earth points would be a good start

[mep12345]

Usually the result of emptying the wallet then putting lots of smiles on the face. Happens to mine too every 250 miles or so!!!

Sorry couldn't resist!

[S3THUNDER]

Thanks

[QBee]

Check the terminals on the fuel gauge sender?

[v8s4me]

As above, most likely a dodgy earth somewhere.

[S3THUNDER]

Cheers guys, another job for the weekend

[S2Andy]

This could be a precursor to the fuel guage sender unit failing. Mine did this for a while then stopped working altogether. Lots of info on changing the sensor on this forum Not a bad job and cheap but can be a pain to get it all to seal again.

[v8s4me]

S2Andy said:

.... Lots of info on changing the sensor on this forum Not a bad job and cheap but can be a pain to get it all to seal again.

EG http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[S3THUNDER]

Thanks again for all your help. The list of to do jobs just keeps growing.

[v8s4me]

If you do change the sender but re-use the original float it's a good idea to check to see if it still air-tight. I thought mine was OK but since it went back in the gauge shows empty even though there are still about 5 gals still in the tank. I suspect the float has a pin hole in it and has leaked some fuel making it heavier, so it now sits below the surface of the petrol.

[S3THUNDER]

Will do. Cheers