Gauge goes crazy

[Dwain Ray]

That's some serious reading material there Dwain! Oh man, I don't know. I feel like I need to do some soul searching and see if I am ready and willing to get that deep into vehicle repair. Thanks for the reality check and offer to help Dwain.

Maybe today I'll get some MAF cleaner, do the vacuum test you described going up hill with the heat blasting, and if that doesn't reveal the issue I'll see how much the 02 sensors cost. I can rent a fuel pressure gauge and test the fuel system (maybe I should just buy one), I read that a bad fuel pump, filter, or regulator can cause this issue too. If after looking into and addressing all those things it doesn't improve then I'll pass it off to a professional mechanic.

Thanks for the tips Dwain, seriously. I'll keep you posted how the diagnosis and repairs go brother.

If you decide to throw parts at it and hope to hit the right one keep in mind you only have to replace ½ the o2 sensors only the bank that is showing faulty .what year van and motor do you have?

 

[Bryce C]

If you decide to throw parts at it and hope to hit the right one keep in mind you only have to replace ½ the o2 sensors only the bank that is showing faulty .what year van and motor do you have?

Good call Dwain, that would save some bucks and time. It is a 2013 express 2500 with a 4.8L V8.

I found a broken ground wire early this morning and fixed it before we got on the road. The tm ran fine for our whole job this morning, whereas it has been getting worse all week. Hopefully that was the culprit! I am going to change the engine oil and clean the MAF sensor this evening, I just picked up some MAF sensor cleaner. I'll hold off on doing anything else until I see how it runs on Monday. I'd prefer to not throw any more time and parts at it right now. But I will if the problem persists.

 

[Bryce C]

Mine was doing that because of the evap.
I had the canister replaced and its better but my machine wont keep running without wedging the button to stay on.
Your post is motivating me to get it fixed. Im just afraid its not going to be cheap.

Interesting. Is your machine a pto style with a throttle controller? I'd of spent a lot of money this past month having things fixed if I didn't do it all myself. Parts alone were like $1500. I imagine the labor would have been much more. Learning as I go.

I discovered a broken ground wire to the throttle controller this morning and fixed it before we got on the road. The machine ran fine for a few hours this morning with zero interruptions, hopefully it is good for now. I'll see on Monday when we have our next jobs. If we get through each of them without a shut down then I'll consider it fixed . Maybe then I'll get at least a few weeks of solid use before the next trial

 

[they live]

Yeah i have a 2010 butler and 2010 gm 3500.
Ive had fuel problems with other equipment too. Ive switched where I get my fuel now but the damage has been done.