How expensive is it to replace or fix my gas gauge on a 2000 chevy malibu? It reads as if it is full then automaticly goes straight to empty even though I have gas in it

does it go to empty right after it starts or when you are driving down the road. it could be the sending unit in the tank of there is soldering connections on the back side of the gauge cluster that might be broke. if you have the gauge cluster out look at the back and see if you see a little black line around the post that is coming through the solder. you might need a magnifying glass to see them and a light.

It will sit at full and after a minute or two of the engine running it will drop to E

sounds like a ground problem or like I said the gauges them self.its not that hard to pull that cluster out and look at the back.

What do you mean by ground problem ?