 Crazy gauge movement problem, fuel and temperature/coolant.
Hey, first off thanks for your help in advance, this forum is awesome and has a lot of knowledgeable people.
I've got a 96 318ti, 5speed. 250,000miles
fast forward to -=-=-=-=- to bypass my story.
Friday at work I changed the oil and filter, put in a new washer pump and rotated tires, topped off the coolant system it was about 1/2 filled in the reservoir. noticed a small, small leak from the thermostat housing[new at 200k], it's the same one (the leak) thats been there for the last 1.5 years. so slow of a leak I only have to add maybe 1-2x a year, and a small volume at that.
I drove 13 miles home from work, no problem. temp gauge about 12 o'clock straight up after a normal slow swing from cold. And the fuel gauge was just a hair under 1/4 tank, not near the light up area. All good!
Vehicle sits for 1.5hrs, then I get in, drive to a local restaurant 1.1 miles away. all highway 55-60mph, one stop light, coolant temp warms back to normal. All good!
Eat dinner, relax for a min or two. Go outside get in and start the car, and before I make it 60ft in the parking lot the fuel gauge swings to dead empty, and the dummy light is on... hmmm weird I think, maybe the sending unit's a little off. I drive a little further, just over .5 mile, the coolant temp gets to 12noon. then starts bouncing a little, but to the cold side, between 12 and 10, and in-between the two. not wanting to risk overheat or catastrophic failure on my 'oldy but a goody' I shut it off and coast the rest of the way home. I need to restart it once just to make it and then I shut it off and drift into my driveway. Once I got home, There was some smoke from the exhaust, and water dripping out. (first 40* night here in SC)
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-- current symptoms: key is turned to on position, fuel gauge turns to MAX full swing immediately, for 5 seconds, then returns to MIN completely empty and dummy light on and stays there. I start the car, runs smooth, no hesitation or stutter. coolant temp lifts from cold after about 16 seconds and by 23 seconds it is pegged to the right, Hot, Max position.
----so today I checked the spark plugs and pistons, they look great. coolant level is still perfect. no signs of coolant in the oil or cylinders. (smoke was normal condensation-presumably), Wiring and connections look great.
Any Ideas? I thought maybe wiring damage from a rodent, since it was one of the first chilly nights, but I cant find any damage after inspecting the engine bay area and the harness to the coolant tempt sensor looks fine...
-Any help?@?@? | 
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