fuel gauge not working

[86TRD]

well i was driving down the street the other day and my fuel gauge just dropped from half to empty , wouldnt move , put some fuel in today and once it got back to around half it dropped again , any main reason on why this would be happening , could it be the cluster? car is my 87 cressida
any help much appreciated.

[Jonny Rochester]

Faulty fuel level sender. The sender is a robust variable resister in the tank. Over time, it physicaly wears out.

[86TRD]

ok thanks.

[Golberg]

Put it out, take the cover off the top of it and clean the contacts, they get gunked from the fuel and stop working properly.

[provar]

you can buy stuff called "electrical contact cleaner" from supercrap/repco and the like, this is what you want

[Jonny Rochester]

Good idea, but I think the fuel in the tank would be keeping the sender as clean as it will ever be.

But if the problem is a dirty connection outside the tank, then it's worth a try.

[86TRD]

will have abit of a look when i get some time , thanks for the help
cheers,
luke.