Mine starts hard somtimes when its being started for the first time that day, which i would think of as normal, i do have this problem with the sending unit you are talking about, but if its only the gauge thats affected, im not going to spend 100 bucks on the new one, i can just do what i have been doing and watch my miles...now if it will fix this hard starting problem i may consider it...does it have anything to do with it?