rodeo fuel gauge problems

i have a 1999 rodeo the fuel gauge will drop to empty when you start the vehicle. the warning light will flash. than as you drive the fuel level will return to normal. the dealer says this is a regular problem and he has replaced at least 12 of then this year. i have called isuzu about this problem and they say they know nothing about this and i should have the problem checked out at my local dealership. i guess my question is has anyone else hae this problen and do i really have to replace the $350 fuel pump :banghead: :banghead:

This is a common problem with 1998-2000 rodeos. The contacts on the float switch in the gas tank get weak & cause funky gauge readings. This will also set off the check engine light. You have to pull the gas tank to remove the sending unit to get at it. You can fix the one you have by bending / "adjusting" the electrical contact points so they make good contact again, or you can just replace the sending unit. The thing is, the new one will only last about 30Kmi & you'll be in the same boat again!! I'd pay a mechanic to fix the old one. Isuzu redesigned the unit for 2001, which eliminates this problem, but the new unit wont fit pre 2001's. G/luck!
Joel

Same problem with my Rodeo 1999. Started around 50k miles. Is there a recall on this. Will the dealer fix this for free?

Isuzu tried to fix the problem for 01 I change them on a daily basis
the problem is that Isuzu is fitting their vehicles with to many GM parts

If you adjust the points, will you have to keep readjusting them periodically? Thanks, Royce

I don't think they fixed the problem. I have a 2001 and am having the same problem now. What realy sucks is that it is time for my vehicle inspection, but the check engine light is comming on as a result of the sending unit problem! To make it even worse, the local Isuzu dealerships are telling me that even though the fuel pump is covered by the warranty (Rodeo has 53K, warranty is 120K), the sending unit is not (50K). Now ain't that a load of BS? You cannot buy these parts separately, you have to buy the pump which comes with the sending unit as a part of it, yet they are telling me that the warranty covers each part separately. I already have a call into Isuzu USA and am awaiting a call back from the Texas manager, so we will see. Any other Houstonians on the board?

Robs- Per this post @ http://www.forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=579 you can buy the float switch separately. The sending unit (w/out the pump) is P/N 8-25323-011-0. Then again, this is supossedly for 1998-2000. Who knows :banghead: Might be worth a try- atleast to toss at your dealer!
G/luck
Joel

I called my local dealer and they sell the sending unit without the pump (you have to give them the part number) for about $ 65 compared the whole unit of about $ 350.

do not go out buying anything. if you are the original owner your vehicle is a 2000 model or newer you are less than 120,000 miles Isuzu is going to pay for a new fuel pump to be installed......

second owner 5 year or 60,000 miles isuzu will pay for the pump...

take it to the dealer tewll thyem to change it

Hah! Thanks for the input, guys. I ended up calling the (800) Isuzu customer number, and they passed me on to the Texas regional manager. After leaving several messages for him, he finally called back and said he would look into the problem. Well guess what? After not hearing anything for the next two days, I called my local dealership again (Champion Isuzu, for any of you in the Houston area), and this time the service rep. I spoke to said that it was indeed covered. Got chewed out maybe? Don't know, and probably never will, but either way, I will be taking it in Monday, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. Sucks to think that I had to do all that though, and wonder how many poor suckers got ripped off because they took their word instead of finding out the truth?

I have a 2001 rodeo with the same problem. it has 65,000 miles on it . Will this be covered under warranty.

This just began occurring on my '99 Rodeo LS V6 4WD.......and it is at 63k. I am the 2nd owner of this Rodeo and bought the Indiana Used Warranty for coverage until the Rodeo reaches 100k. This is a full warranty for the car and a powertrain warranty. Wonder if my warranty will help?

bump this, I replaced this item and now the fuel pump starts up only when the engines cold.

This is a known problem and I did a writeup with the part numbers and a few pictures.

No, this is not always covered by warranty. If you have the big warranty (2000 and up) from Isuzu and you are the first owner, then yes you should be able to get it fixed. If you are the second owner or have a 98 or 99, you are out of luck.

Me, I have a 98 Honda Passport so it was up to me.

Here's the writeup: http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/116

Joe

My 99 rodeo just had the same problem. fuel gauge off and fuel light coming on. I ordered a sending unit from a Ebay dealer and installed it, thought it worked fine till I got down to a quarter tank and the fuel light came on again.
Took the tank down again and checked the sensor out,, it was working correct. called a friend that worked for a Honda dealer and he said to reset the gauge in the dash as some all fuel sending units are not calabrated the same. it works great now and here is how to do it. Run the tank as low as you can till you think its close to enpty.
On the dash, take out the two fillips head screws just above the speedo and tach. On the panel below the steering wheel take out the lower right screw, now with a flat blade screw driver pry out the lower dash, put the screw driver behind the plastic on each side of the column and it will pop out, dont pull it out all the way just about 2 inches. under this plastic cover you will see 3 more screws on the left side and 1 screw on the right side holding the lower part of the upper dash. now pry out the upper dash plastic piece, start from the radio and move to the left, behind it you will need to unplug 3 plugs on the left, a blue plug and a gray plug and a clear plug, just push in on the tab and pull out. now slid the upper dash to the right and out of the way.
Now take out the 4 screws holding the instrument cluster in, 2 on the right and 2 on the left side, pull out the panel, pop off the outer black plastic of the cluster to get to the instruments, to do this you must push in on all the clips and pull out the plastic piece with the clear plastic lens still atached.
Now you can touch the gauges. turn on the ignition key and Move the needle on the fuel gauge to enpty, be gental. now the gauge is reset and will work correct. if this sound to hard for you then get you local mechanic to do it, NOT THE DEALER.

hi sorry for my bad english i livie in mexico TOM B are you sure how long does the floater so repairing as time has worked on the float after your truck repaired in this way I hope your answer and thank you for your time

I am having the same problem and the write up is gone now. Does anyone have the information to replace the sender unit. My 98 Roseo reads full but at about 3/4 of a tank it starts to read low then after a tight left hand turns shows empty and warning light??? Can this be done with removing the tank???????

Thanks for any information,

Rob

I read alot on this and had the same problem...Got a new sending unit from Ebay, I pulled the tank,replaced it, same darn thing.Empty fuel with light flashing.I investigated more the next day.. I know that a fuel gauge is only a ground that gives different resistance to the gauge..I pulled the dash and grounded the "SU" sending unit screw on back of gauge. The gauge went to full..So the gauge is working..I then attached a wire from "SU" screw then through the car under the trim right after the back door..Drilled a hole and ran it to tank wires..This is were I had to figure out which wire to tap onto..Make a long story short, It's the thinner orange wire with the black tracer..I took my wire I ran from the dash and just tapped into that orange wire that is part of the 4 plug connector,,Plugged it in and TADA have a gas gauge!! Unfortunatly the low fuel light still blinked..So I pulled the bulb..Put it back together and have not had a problem since..

I got my parts from J. Lemond and chickened out and had my local dealer do it. my driveway is slanted and my garage won't allow the rodeo to be jacked up.

Anyway the original sender was completely worn and shot, the small metal brushed that rubbed on the contacts was completely worn down to nothing!

Thanks to all who helped! Sorry I could not do it myself.......

Rob

All,
First post, Great Forum! Fixing up my Son-In-Law's 2000 Passport , and have already used quite a few tips from this site. Latest project is fixing the fuel sending unit issue. Bought a sending unit, dropped the tank, would'nt fit correctly. Rigged it to mount semi-correctly, and put everything back together. (The seller was more than helpful, and later sent me the correct one) Fuel gauge went up to 1/4, and stayed there(tank full). Check Engine light was at least out!. When I received the new one, dropped the tank again, and replaced with the correct one. Put everything back together, gauge went beyond full, and stayed there. Found the post in this thread about taking the dash apart, and moving the needle. Not sure if that was the way to go. Needle wouldnt stay. Pulled it out a bit(like setting a watch), turned it to where it belonged, pushed it back in, and now nothing. I think it's disconnected from the internals. Is it FUBAR?? Do I need a new gauge cluster?? Read some more of the threads, and found the one about setting up resistance values(calibrating) Called the local Honda dealer, and they said they never heard of it, so if I do get a new instrument cluster(more $$), will it do any good? Does anyone have any direction? Can I fix the needle assembley? Thanks to all in advance

i have a similar prob on my o1 rodeo. Only mine reads a full tank than drops to E. Put in a second pump with a known good sending unit and same problem. As far as I have gotten by calling isuzu customer service is that the computer needs to be flashed to accept the new pump even though it is an O.E.M. Pump.

I have a 2000 Isuzu Rodeo that I bought about 6 weeks ago, I've had nothing but problem after problem with it and now I feel like I've put so much money into it so far that I can't just walk away from it...so far I've had the timing belt replaced, the water pump, radiator, head gasket, thermostat and cooling fan and yet it's still overheating, the oil light is coming on and the fuel guage goes up and down and the fuel light will flash at me when it's low on gas, the guage will actually rise all the way to full then go down and then back up and so forth. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could still be going on to cause these 3 problems to still be occuring?

raylexabb, I'm not sure why your car would still be overheating if you've had the head gasket, radiator, water pump, timing belt and serpentine belt replaced. The fuel gauge is the least of your worries (just reset the odometer when filling up with gas, It's close to empty when it gets to 275 or higher). I just replaced the fuel pump because it needed to be done (starts right up and runs so smoothly now) but it didn't fix my faulty gas gauge. I think Tom B had the right answer (in my case) for that one (removing the instrument cluster and resetting).

I have a 1998 Honda Passport which I purchased with 130k miles in 8/2011.

Work done so far/replaced:
-Spark Plugs, Timing Belt, Serpentine Belt, Water Pump, Radiator, Fuel Pump w/sending unit, Fuel Filter, Replaced Starter Contacts, Alternator, Battery & Negative Battery Cable, 4 O2 Sensors, Kenwood Stereo, 2x4" Alpine Speakers & 2x6.5" Alpine Speakers, Viper Remote Start/Alarm (installing next week)

All together with parts and some mechanic work it's cost me just under $1500 and the car cost me $3000. With any car this old and with this many miles, chances are the previous owner didn't replace things when needed, which usually causes problems to pile up. With mine, it was definitely time for all of the above to be replaced and the truck runs wonderfully. If any of you have questions regarding the things I've replaced, feel free to ask as most of the work I've done myself.