On my 95 850 a few years ago the fuel gauge suddenly started reading lower than it did when new. When the tank is filled up very full the gauge only goes up to about 16 gal, and when the gauge reads empty (fuel warning light on), the tank can be filled by adding about 14-14.5 gals, meaning there are still about 4.5-5 in the tank.

I ignored this but recently, if there are about 6 gal or less showing on the gauge, the reading will jump around every few minutes. It will slip down to very low or empty (and the light will go on), then go back up (light off), or go back and forth time to time.

On an old car I once had something like this and found the fuel level sender was all corroded and dirty.

So I went in the back and pulled the fuel level sender out of the tank. This part looked well-made and was very clean and pristine. Moving the float by hand, the resistance was about 320 ohms at lowest level and about 10 ohms at highest. I could repeat this a dozen times or so with the readings covering the same range reliably each time.

So I suspect a problem in the instrument panel - but didn't look yet. The other gauges and warning lights all work ok, except odometer (which I suspect is a separate problem).

Has anyone experienced something like this?

thanks to all...