Fuel Level Sensor: Description and Operation

The fuel level sensor consists of a float, a wire float arm, and a ceramic resistor card. The position of the float arm indicates the fuel level. The fuel level sensor contains a variable resistor which changes resistance in correspondence with the amount of fuel in the fuel tank. The powertrain control module (PCM) sends the fuel level information via the class 2 circuit to the instrument panel (IP) cluster. This information is used for the IP fuel gauge and the low fuel warning indicator, if applicable. The PCM also monitors the fuel level input for various diagnostics.