Hi, guys,

Well my fuel sender was hosed just like every other Fiero I have ever known.

This one is the new to me '88 GT with 187,000 miles on it, so you just know it must have been coated in goo.

After reading lots of sites, I found there was a GM TSB recommending the use of GM Fuel System Cleaner Plus for, amongst other things, cleaning the fuel sender.

Now this stuff Must be GOLD, since it costs $27.50 a gallon.

But that still beats the heck out of dropping the tank, so I decided to give it a try.

I put in the treatment last winter with a full tank of gas, drove it the recommended miles to mix it, and parked it for the winter.

Now mine was bad enough that not only would it read no less than about a quarter of tank, it would ALSO not read MORE than about 7/8 of a tank even when really, really filled; so you KNOW it was covered in so much crud that the float could not fully swing up!

Well, I went to buy gas today and was shocked to see the fuel gauge setting right about the empty mark! And when I filled it, the gauge swung all the way to above full!!! It looks like the blasted fuel sender is working as designed!

GM recommends doing a treatment whenever the oil is changed as a preventative. That sounds pretty expensive at $27.50 a bottle.....but it is less than a penny a mile. So I intend to at that cost to the Mobil 1 when I change my oil!

So, as I say, it worked for me.....YMMV will vary of course, but I would love to hear about YOUR experiences with this stuff.

Oh, bye the way, I had tried two doses of the Techron concentrate and had no improvement at all, so the GM cleaner working was quite unexpected.

Regards,
Larry

nteresting...and yes, sure as heck beats dropping the tank!!!

thanks 4 sharing...

i DON'T THINK YOU NEED TO PUT A GALLON IN every oil change..
I'd think about 12 oz would be more than enough..
now that you cleaned out all the gunk.. did you change the fuel filter and open it up..

This certainly isn't going to fix the sender in every case. On one of my cars, the sender worked OK with a full tank, or nearly empty tank. In between, the gauge would peg, indicating that the sender wasn't making contact at all. When I finally had to drop the tank to change the fuel pump, I found that the resistor element on the sender was bent outward in the middle travel area. I removed it and turned it around so that the outward bending part was compressed flat against the plastic mount, and now it works fine.

As for engine and fuel system cleaners, BG44 is supposed to outperform all others.

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

do you have a part #### for this cleaner?

When I replaced the fuel pump hose in my tank, I disassembled the sender and cleaned the wiper and the contact it rode on. The filth came off in chunks... Now my sender works as it was designed to. Was our old gas that full of varnish? Or did we let them sit too long?

quote Originally posted by imacflier: After reading lots of sites, I found there was a GM TSB recommending the use of GM Fuel System Cleaner Plus for, amongst other things, cleaning the fuel sender. Now this stuff Must be GOLD, since it costs $27.50 a gallon.

For that kind of money, I would hope it does more than just clean the fuel sender.

What did you notice about your engine? Any improvement in MPG and/or performance?

quote Originally posted by crashyoung: When I replaced the fuel pump hose in my tank, I disassembled the sender and cleaned the wiper and the contact it rode on. The filth came off in chunks... Now my sender works as it was designed to. Was our old gas that full of varnish? Or did we let them sit too long?

when you think of just how much fuel has passed through the fuel system it's a wonder the tank isn't full of crap.. gas stastions pump a lot of crap into tanks..

Patrick,

My '88 runs and was running pretty well other than the gas gauge, so it made very little difference to gas mileage or smoothness. It did seem to drop my off throttle idle from 900 to about 600 (Manual transmission). That seems awfully low to me, but, so far, it has not stalled when coming off idle so I don't know what I might do....if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Larry

Your right it is quite low... At cold it should sit at 1500 warm it should hold at 1000 not sure why it would drop that low after you fixed it....

Celthora87GT,

When I first acquired the '88, it idled at a tach indicated 1500. When the idle was checked at the ECM it turned out to be 900. I had replaced and cleaned the IAC by that time, of course. This 600 is also measured at the ECM. Mebbe cleaning out the IAC and replacing the fuel filter might be in order? But, as I said, is sure working fine right now!

Larry

Well the gunk on the fuel sending unit will have to go somewhere if it came off... maybe run a few tanks through to make sure most of the gunk is sucked up then go and replace the filter. You dont want to replace it then have more gunk come through and clog it again.

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1987 Black GT Custom interior with Mr. Mikes seats Series 1 L67 W/ 5 speed getrag!
1988 Formula-GT

quote Originally posted by imacflier: '88 GT with 187,000 miles It did seem to drop my off throttle idle from 900 to about 600 (Manual transmission). That seems awfully low to me...

Larry, that seems low to me as well. I'd be a bit concerned about oil pressure at that RPM with a high mileage 2.8 engine.