# [SOLVED] Gas Gauge Problem



## D_Unit_39

Hi, after recently installing my car stereo in a 97 chevy malibu, 3.1L v6, the gas gauge needle somehow ended up on the otherside of the little stopper pin, a friend told me it was a fuse, but i dont have any clue why i would have blown a fuse..any help? :4-dontkno


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## D_Unit_39

anything? come on someone has to know...any guesses atleast??

please? :sayyes:


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## Volt-Schwibe

did you take the dash board apart during the stereo installation?

if so, you need to open that panel back up, and then turn the key to the on position, and when the needle moves up, then you put the dash's face back on.

this happened to me with a chevy astro, but it was the speedometer, and i had to actually hold the dash cracked open, and drive it for a sec, and then pop the dash back together.

it was kinda funny.

but i suspect the needle is simply trapped behind the peg, since blowing a fuse wouldn't make it go behind the peg.

if this isn't what you see, let us know.


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## D_Unit_39

i will try and take a picture or something of it maybe, i think it would be a complete bltch to take the dash apart, but maybe not..but the thing is i didn't even have the dash apart, just took a panel piece off that was under the steering wheel so i could feed the power wire through a rubber gromet. but yah, ill try and take a picture.
thanks
Dennis


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## JamesO

Bad ground??? or something disconnected when installing the stereo?? 

Also check the fuses, maybe something in blown and you just did not realize it??

I hope the dash face was not taken apart for the stereo install, but not sure I know this vehicle well.

JamesO


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## Volt-Schwibe

after looking at diagrams of your car, i see that the 97 malibu has a seperate faceplate over the stereo hole, so i can see that you wouldn't have had the dash apart.

although, i don't see any other way for it to end up on the wrong side of the stop pin.

unless on that model, an open fault in the fuel gauge circut reads as so full it swings all the way around....

although with the gauges i see here, i don't see how that could happen.

yes, a picture will help a ton.


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## CurtisMalibu

*Malibu Fuel Gauge Needle on Underside of Lower Pin*

Hi All,

The same thing happened to me when I took my 1998 Malibu in for a new
alternator. When I got the car back, the gas gauge needle was on the
underside of the lower pin. Turning the ignition on pegged the needle
at the underside of the pin, and turning the ignition off allowed the
needle to drop.

To fix the problem, I noticed that the trip odometer reset pin has a
hole slightly larger than the reset pin itself. So with a thin wire (I
used a twist tie from a grocery store), I poked through the gap in the
hole, made contact with the fuel gauge needle, and then flipped it
counter clockwise until it was on the top side of the lower pin.

Hopefully this will help others with this problem. I was really
dreading having to take the dash apart to fix such a simple item.

Curtis


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## buddycraigg

CurtisMalibu is on to something.
that very well may work.
the gauges use sometihing like an air pole magnet or something like that.
if they get too far out of phase they will try to read 180 degrees out.


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## malibu2407

*i had the same problem and fixed it*

To swing the needle back over to the correct position I used a magnet to push/pull the needle back to where it needed to be. This is a good way to fix it because I didn't need to take anything apart.


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## sprntrl

GM has a service buliten about this on file. If you have a full tank of gas when you remove power to the dash guages, and then reapply power, this typically doesnt happen. If it happens to you you have to take the dash apart to spin the needle around the right way. 

If you are creative, you can bend a piece of wire and feed it through the Odometer Button hole which is slightly larger than the button itself and then use the end of the wire to push the needle back around to the correct side of the stopping pin. This saves you from having to tear the dash apart.


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## avidranger

*Re: Gas Gauge Problem*

Gas gauge messed up by electrical work, fixed with a paper clip as described above.

A wire (unbent large paper clip) through the hole for the reset button worked for me. Although a magnet can clearly move the needle, in my case (1998) the gas gauge needle was blocked by the temp gauge needle and the magnet was just too week to push past. However, a bent paper clip pushed the needle past the temp gauge needle with ease. No significant force needed as there was enough play for one needle to slip over the other. As soon as you push the needle far enough, it's own magnets flip it around into place.

This was much easier than I expected. Took me about two minutes though I spent a few minutes with the magnets before that.

Thanks.


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## RealRoo

*Re: Gas Gauge Problem*

A friend got a new battery installed and their car did the same thing with the fuel needle. I used the "twist-tie through the trip hole" approach and moved the temp gauge needle out of the way, then pushed the fuel needle back into place and it worked GREAT! Thanks for the input.


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