The other day i was driving my '98 Jeep cherokee and i was on my way to get gas. I was sitting at a stop light and something caught my eye.. my fuel gauge was moving UP!!! It has done it a couple times since...any suggestions on what to check or have fixed??

 

Were you sitting at a stop light or were you BRAKING towards a stop light?
Its normal, for me atleast. That when i brake hard the fuel gauge goes up a little and then settles, and when you pull hard it lowers because the pump and sending unit is located in the front of the tank.

 

Mine roams a bit too. But never more than an 8th of a tank.

 

If you sit for longer periods of times your gauge may go up due to the fact that you are consuming less fuel and sitting at a lower rpm.
However, speaking from past experience (not on a cherokee, rather an s10) my gauge would always be wrong, work sometimes and sometimes not, it got worse and worse til my fuel pump went out. It could be an early symptom that your fuel pump or sending unit or both are going out.

 

[QUOTE=sik_xj;1649987]If you sit for longer periods of times your gauge may go up due to the fact that you are consuming less fuel and sitting at a lower rpm.
QUOTE]

I would say your sending unit is going bad. Check the ground to it as well.

 

A little bit of up and down indication is nothing to worry about.

Otherwise, looks like your sending unit is going south. You have to drop the tank to get the whole pump/filter/checkvalve/sending unit out.

There's a few post here that suggest you should be able to just clean it.

Mine went all over the place and also the check valve was bad, so I decided to replace the whole assembly not too long ago.

According to my Haynes manual the whole assembly fits into the front side of the tank and you should not have to drop the tank. However, on my '98 it was on top of the tank. Dropping the tank isn't to big of a deal though.

Plenty of write ups on the forum on replacing the whole pump assembly

Jeroen

 

Just did the whole pump change thing on my 97. Yes you have to drop the tank. Its not particularly hard just a little aggrivating. Plan on replacing the bolts that hold the tank.

 

thanks, ya it only moves a little more than an 8th of a tank. but its been happening more and more lately. so i guess im going to have to do a little work. haha there is always something.