Stinkfist

Hi all,

I've been having a problem with my gas gauge. It'll randomly fall to nothing, the gas light will come on (sometimes throw a CEL) and then the gauge will slowly fill back up.

I took it to a local Subaru dealer and they told me it's caused by my aftermarket alarm. I know this is not the problem, as my alarm was put in by people that I trust FAR more than I trust the dealership (this was my 3rd bad experience with the dealership). I did searches on multiple forums, and from what I gatehred, this indicates a bad sending unit. I had the CEL pulled: P0463 Fuel Level Sensor Circuit High Input. This makes the dealership look even more stupid, because they told me my sending unit was functioning properly (but they didn't bother to pull the CEL).

Anyway, I'd like to try fixing this myself, even though my car-related working knowledge is practically nonexistent. I'm looking for a MY00 Service Manual, and I've found a site that sells OEM parts for decent prices.

I know where the sending unit is (in the trunk, under this little blister behind the back seat). Do I get a voltometer and test the contact points to see where the problem is, or just buy a new unit? Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

sykosis

iTrader: (23)

Sorry can't help you but if it was me I'd definitely throw the CEL code back in their faces and make them change the unit under warranty. That's BS that it has anything to do with the alarm. May be an uphill battle to fight Subaru warranty, but I'd try it.

Stinkfist

Well, I didn't buy it from them, so there's no warranty. I've been dealing with them for about 6 months, and they don't like to do ANYTHING they don't have to or won't get paid for.

Shortly after I bought the car, I took it in to this dealership for the 45K maintenance and they screwed it up big-time. My oil pan leaked for a month because they put the wrong gasket in.... they didn't tell me my rear brake pads were shot, though it was checked off on the "inspection" checklist..... they didn't replace or even tell me I needed to replace my spark plugs, fuel filter, oil filter, and air filter.

Needless to say, I was not happy. So I finally got a hold of the Service Manager, told him how badly they screwed it up, and his explanation was that they pulled the wrong menu. They pulled a WRX service menu. Ummm, WRXs didn't even exist in the US in 2000. Their computer shouldn't be able to call up a menu for a car that didn't exist....

He told me that the next service would be "on them". So I thought I'd let them fix the fuel gauge problem, and we could work something out as far as my "freebie" was concerned.

Their service consisted of looking under the dash, blaming the alarm, and giving my car back to me without doing a DAMN thing. And they STILL tried to charge me for the "inspection". The Service Manager was conveniently gone the day I brought my car in, so he wasn't there to authorize the waived fee.

Anyway. I'd just as soon leave them out on this one. They've done more than enough already.