Fuel Level Sensor
WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix, 2003 Chevrolet Malibu, and 2003 Buick Century. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.
The fuel level sensor is part of the fuel sender assembly consisting of the fuel level sensor, Fuel Tank Pressure (FTP) sensor, fuel pump and fuel strainer. See Fig 1 . The fuel level sensor consists of a float, a wire float arm, and a ceramic resistor card. The position of the float arm indicates the fuel level. The fuel level sensor contains a variable resistor which changes resistance in correspondence with the amount of fuel in the fuel tank. The PCM sends the fuel level information via the Class II circuit to the Instrument Panel (IP) cluster. This information is used for the IP fuel gauge and the low fuel warning indicator, if applicable. The PCM also monitors the fuel level input for various diagnostics.