Fuel gauge seems to have quit.

mrtask

mrtask

Well-Known Member
Now the fuel gauge seems to have ceased to function, although the temperature gauge beneath it is still working. Any pointers, chaps, as to what i should be investigating?
 
You're not wrong, @falkor. I was just too damn lazy to use the search function before I posted.
Don't laugh too loudly, but it turns out the tank was just about empty. I can always hear when the fuel level is about to get to the point where I have to pull the reserve cable. Happened half an hour after I fired off my initial post. I was chuckling with embarrassment when I realised.
 
Not that £70.- buys a lot of petrol these days, but in the past if I glugged that much go juice into the tank then the gauge read somewhere past the half way mark. Now however that much money spent at the petrol station is only enough to get the needle just about quarter of the way to the mid point of the gauge. Ho hum. I guess the float in the tank is porous and past it. Fortunately I have a new old stock sender unit in its original packaging somewhere in my stash of spares. Unfortunately I will need to remove the old one from inside the tank, which I seem to recall involves petrol going everywhere, even after using the electric fuel pump to empty the tank. This job will have to wait until I can find somebody who is willing to let me use their car lift for an hour or two. I can't be messing about on the floor with jacks anymore. Good thing these cars have that excellent reserve feature, with which to monitor fuel level when the guage has ceased to function properly.
 
It would be worth your time to get underneath and earth out the sender lead to see if the guage reads full then. If it doesn't its not the sender...
if you do need to remove the sender jacking the car so there is a slight lean to the long side of the tank will keep the dregs away from the sender and make removing it a dryer affair. Remember to disconnect battery before starting work!
 
Thanks @mikecoombs. Good advice. I'll do that before anything else. If it isn't a fault with the sender, then I suppose it will be the instrument itself? I have a spare one of them too, so either way I ought to have one of whatever has given up the ghost. I don't like electrickery. I still haven't gone and purchased a multimeter, as was recently suggested by more than one fellow forumite!
 
Doing the same trick at the gauge end will tell you if its the connecting wire. I think its the fuel guage that has a little voltage regulator plugged into the back which can also get out of adjustment. It looks built in but is actually plugged into the back with two spade clips so can be prized out.
M
 
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