[Mk2] [Turbo] Fuel gauge reading incorrectly.

[Buster]

Well I've just spent two hours sitting in my car waiting for the RAC as it ran out of fuel on the way to my usual Shell garage to fill up with V Power.

At first I thought it must be some sort of starvation problem but seeing as I've just paid to have the correct pump put in correctly and the Chinese copy taken out I'm starting to think it's a problem with the gauge reading incorrectly.

Now the car recently had a full Rev 3 conversion done absolutely horendously from arsehole to breakfast but that can keep for now.

However one of the many, many problems and shocking workmanship has been the turbo speedometer and plasma dials fitted by the same "specialist" that bodged my entire conversion. The speedometer issue I'll get to at a later date along with other incredibly awful workmanship but this got me thinking that it's quite simply the fact that the needle has been removed and/or knocked away from its original placing as I'm sure these dials you can just slip over unlike some that need the needle removing.

So can the needle simply be removed and replaced at the correct position for example once the car is has a full tank of fuel or is it not quite as simple as that?

[[email protected]]

it is as simple as that.. the hard part is knowing whats in tank to start with.. easiest way is to brim ya fuel tank and put needle at full. there is other ways but thats easiest i know.

[gavsdavs]

It takes a coouple of tanks of fuel for it to rediscover what's full and empty.
(Patrick replaced my fuel pump).

If in doubt, put some in ?

[Buster]

it is as simple as that.. the hard part is knowing whats in tank to start with.. easiest way is to brim ya fuel tank and put needle at full. there is other ways but thats easiest i know.

I did try filling it to the brim with fuel but no difference.

[Buster]

It takes a coouple of tanks of fuel for it to rediscover what's full and empty.
(Patrick replaced my fuel pump).

If in doubt, put some in ?

Well that's it now had is second full tank of fuel so I suppose I'll drive it until it starts to splitter and top up with a can from the boot and see where the needle is next time.

[SonicSW20]

Where does the needle move to when it is full?

Where does the needle drop to when it runs out?

[androo007]

Man has conversion done.

Man drives 250 miles, fills up, drives further. No comment on Fuel gauge being faulty.

Man than has the fuel pump replaced at a second garage (supposedly).

Fuel gauge then reportedly doesn't work because he ran out of fuel.

Man blames original garage for the needle being faulty when it wasn't faulty before the SECOND garage removed the pump...



Come on man, FFS. You honestly saying you drove hundreds of miles with the needle on 0? No. This is getting really boring....Have you checked the fuel level sender in the tank CONNECTED TO THE PUMP wasn't installed faulty?

We're here to help, but please leave the random ranting out of it - if anything you're sending people who want to help down the wrong path!

[Buster]

Where does the needle move to when it is full?

Where does the needle drop to when it runs out?

Needle goes right to the top and slightly past the last notch if you get me? Exactly as it was before the speedometer was replaced and dials replaced.

[Buster]

Man has conversion done.

Man drives 250 miles, fills up, drives further. No comment on Fuel gauge being faulty.

Man than has the fuel pump replaced at a second garage (supposedly).

Fuel gauge then reportedly doesn't work because he ran out of fuel.

Man blames original garage for the needle being faulty when it wasn't faulty before the SECOND garage removed the pump...



Come on man, FFS. You honestly saying you drove hundreds of miles with the needle on 0? No. This is getting really boring....Have you checked the fuel level sender in the tank CONNECTED TO THE PUMP wasn't installed faulty?

We're here to help, but please leave the random ranting out of it - if anything you're sending people who want to help down the wrong path!

Mate, I have the invoice to prove the fuel pump was changed, the fuel gauge worked fine. The fuel pump I paid for was supposedly a TRE uprated pump as reccomended by the trader instead of what I wanted my usual Walbro 255 LPH. Fine, if a TRE is just as good, not as loud and slightly cheaper then I was fine with that. But as far as we can tell it was a cheap probably Chinese copy from eBay that started to give up after a hundred miles. Cost? £20.

I've never claimed I've driven hundreds of miles with the gauge at 0.

The gauge moved up when the tank was filled but it ran out of fuel when the needle was showing just below a quarter tank when I was on the way to fill up with fuel. So I'd never had the car that low before since the swap. Yes the needle was showing the fuel was low, under a quarter tank, but not ultra low and no warning light. So basically the gauge works fine so to speak but when the car got under a quarter tank which is generally as low as I'll let it go, is when I always fill up again. But the gauge showed just under a quarter tank, no warning light and the car ran completely dry this time.

I'm genuinely sorry for ranting buddy, I really am. But the absolute messes that I'm going to have to pay to get sorted has gutted me.

But I get you, you're right, it's just I've never ever been stung as bad as this before and it really stings.

And I do appreciate the help.

[SonicSW20]

The gauge moved up when the tank was filled but it ran out of fuel when the needle was showing just below a quarter tank when I was on the way to fill up with fuel. So I'd never had the car that low before. Yes the needle was showing the fuel was low, under quarter full but not ultra low and no warning light. So basically the gauge works fine so to speak but when the car got under a quarter tank when is when I always fill up again the car ran completely dry. I've only discovered now that the car is actually empty of fuel now that I've let the gauge show just under quarter full.

Did you fill it back up to full, and if so how many litres did it take to fill?

[Buster]

We put approximately 15 quids worth I'm at the side of the road and then I put another £45 in at the shell garage about 5 miles away.

Do you think it may just need filled up to the brim a few times or does the needle need repositioned? Possible wiring fault? A turbo speedometer was fitted at the same time as the new dial faces but the speedometer needle is dancing all over the place, could the two things be related?

[raptor95GTS]

litres man, litres man. How many litres does it take to fill up Fuel prices vary so 45quid of fuel could be 45 litres or 30 litres.

The speedo takes it's feed directly from the gearbox then from the dash it goes back to the ECU. If the speedo needle is bouncing around then it could be as daft as a loose connector block on the dash or something worse and more complicated / expensive. If you do a search on the forums you will find many of your answers or at least some fault finding steps to run through. Then you can post back what you've found

[wilkie senior]

Yours is a Rev1 ?

re speedo bouncing make sure the speedo cable is fully connected, my old rev1 did that once I unlugged it & put it back on sorted it, other experiences with bouncing speedos has been faulty / worn, inner cables.

As above double check everything is connected properly.

friendly advice, Be methodical in your fault finding & reporting, as suggested do a search for your issue.

Keep the posts to the specific issue you have and report back with what youve done and any effect it has had on your problem, and people will be happy to respond with advice.

Regards

[Buster]

litres man, litres man. How many litres does it take to fill up Fuel prices vary so 45quid of fuel could be 45 litres or 30 litres.

The speedo takes it's feed directly from the gearbox then from the dash it goes back to the ECU. If the speedo needle is bouncing around then it could be as daft as a loose connector block on the dash or something worse and more complicated / expensive. If you do a search on the forums you will find many of your answers or at least some fault finding steps to run through. Then you can post back what you've found

Yeah I know mate, but tbh I was in a rush to post and I don't have my laptop anymore so I'm always having to use this fecking iPhone!

The fuel gauge doesn't bounce about, it's just when the fuel gauge shows just under a quarter tank of fuel the tank is actually completely empty.

The needle rises perfectly to where it always did on a full tank.

[Buster]

Yours is a Rev1 ?

re speedo bouncing make sure the speedo cable is fully connected, my old rev1 did that once I unlugged it & put it back on sorted it, other experiences with bouncing speedos has been faulty / worn, inner cables.

As above double check everything is connected properly.

friendly advice, Be methodical in your fault finding & reporting, as suggested do a search for your issue.

Keep the posts to the specific issue you have and report back with what youve done and any effect it has had on your problem, and people will be happy to respond with advice.

Regards

It's a Rev 2 mate, originally a N/A. UK car for what difference that would make if any. So it's not cable driven.

It's had a turbo speedometer put in at the same time as having new plasma style dual faces and an Omori boost gauge.

[wilkie senior]

Hi

yeah rev1 was cable driven.

have you checked everything is fimly plugged in in the instrument binical unt?

for the time it takes always worth ruling out the simple stuff

Its sounding like the sender may be at fault?

[Buster]

Hi

yeah rev1 was cable driven.

have you checked everything is fimly plugged in in the instrument binical unt?

for the time it takes always worth ruling out the simple stuff

Its sounding like the sender may be at fault?

I intended to that yesterday but when I saw the wiring under the dash cluster I had to tidy up that and then didn't have time to do the check the multiplugs at the top of the cluster.

I'll do it today or tomorrow if I can.

Hopefully it will just be something loose.

[wilkie senior]

As i say its always worth elimenating the simple stuff.

worth checking out the wiring you have just mentioned, making sure commections are solid & the whole lot are secure safe

Keep us updated

[Buster]

As i say its always worth elimenating the simple stuff.

worth checking out the wiring you have just mentioned, making sure commections are solid & the whole lot are secure safe

Keep us updated

Everything seems to be connected and not loose.

There is a switch with a knob on it attached to the main loom that's usually mounted somewhere on the dash. The switch controls the colour of the dials, green or blue and the knob consequently adjusts the brightness.

The wires from the loom all go into this switch and are soldered to the connectors that attach to the switch. It would appear that these wires would be able to short as they were not insulated in anyway. They certainly gave me a belt as I was trying to hold the switch and turned the sidelights on. Lol.

So I really don't know, I put more fuel in today and the needle moved up to the mark I expected it to as usual.

I really do think it's the needle that's come off and needs putting back on in
the right place.

So filling up the old green petrol container and seeing where the needle is when it runs out of fuel?

[pbmr2]

from your description, the needle is reaching it's upper limit of movement at full tank.

my 2 cars have both got stock fuel gauges, one of them goes just past the top mark when full, the other only reaches the top of the top mark. the one with the higher reach, runs out of fuel just after the bottom mark.
the other car goes about another 30 miles before running out and sit even lower on the gauge.

I think you needle has been taken off and put back on facing too high. so fill the car to the brim.. like fill it, wait 20 second and then slowly fill some more. really make sure you can get no more fuel in.

then take the needle off and replace it with it pointing to the top of the top mark and no higher.
stick a small petrol can in the boot and drive till you run out of fuel. see where it got to.

if it's anything like the 3 or 4 gauges I've messed with then it should be just under the minimum mark it runs out.
the warning light is not very good, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. ignore the light.

have you checked the plugs under the ashtray? there are 2. one if for the pump, the other is for the sender. just make sure they are not damaged etc and plugged in well.

I've known a few senders to fail but only after being parked up for a long time