Ok I guess I have just lived with my fuel gauge only showing 3/4 + full even when the tanks full. Apart from that the gauge works ok only wavers when cornering ! I believe this was a sender issue that could only be fixed when you have the engine out. What’s the possibility it’s the fuel gauge regular on the back of the gauge (I think from reading) Any one had similar issue?
Yep. You can cut a hatch to get to the sender easily enough, although that only made mine work for about 6 months. I just live with it now.
If it were me, I would live with it as you have been doing successfully. Mine has an inspection hatch cut above the tank which the previous owner did. Its a future option for you, but best you live with what you have.
For certain combinations of fully working but aftermarket sender and fully working gauge this behaviour is normal. Mine will hit 100% for about 2 miles after brimming it. When it hits the orange sector its still got half a tank. I have driven my bus 62000 miles like that...
If it starts with a reading of 3/4 full and then gradually goes down to zero without suddenly dropping to nothing when you know there’s still plenty in, it’s probably a fault with the voltage stabiliser attached to the back of the gauge, rather than the sender in the tank. See this http://www.speedyjim.net/htm/fuel_ga.htm
When my bus shows one click below empty it has done about 240 miles from full. Yesterday on the A303 for instance. So it just compresses the range. So probably not a voltage regulator fault as mine changed to like that when I had the sender changed from one that worked accurately but intemittently.
it waivers ... what I really mean is as I corner it tends to read low and then comes back up slowly ... normally I see this on the a half tank reading
No idea ... I fill up on 1/4 tank ... I want to test out where empty really is but I just haven’t got round to it yet
Yep I read a similar type of article ... I just wanted someone who had experience of the same issue before I will spend £26 plus the effort of pulling the dash ...cheers
I should add to this that I've done a fair bit of experimentation on my gauge. Initially I noticed that it had gone wrong when I filled right up and it was only showing about 1/4 full. I discovered the voltage stabiliser was reading very low, about 2 V, so I fitted a new one. The new correct higher voltage (about 5.2V) sorted the gauge for a while but then the sender burned out, so it was the classic situation where it would read full to 3/4 then nothing. I fitted a new sender than found like you it was reading about 3/4 when I'd filled right up, and well left of zero when there was still some in. My next move was to adjust the voltage regulator. I got a selection of zener diodes and experimented until I was getting 6.2 V from the regulator. This now gives a full reading when full and after 350 km it's reading just below the empty line. It's not yet perfect though. 6.2 V may risk blowing the gauge or the sender on a full tank. I believe it's also possible to trim the gauge with some little tabs but I don't want to risk this until I can find a spare. I still reset the trip meter every fill so I know when I really am getting low. Even the original sender used to make the gauge go down in a non linear way but the new one is wound much more crudely. I had considered getting some nichrome wire and rewinding the original but I don't know if it could be done by hand. A bit like repairing a watch I'd imagine.
Mine would only read 3/4 on the gauge when full after I fitted a new sender. Lived with it for a year or so, but having dropped the engine out the other week thought I would investigate why...... It's just the way the arm on the sender is bent! The float is hitting the top of the tank before it reaches 'full scale deflection' Bend the arm down a bit (think ballcock in the cold water cistern) and the float then has room to work properly.
But does it now show ¼ full when the tank is empty? Edit. Assuming it indicated empty when the tank was empty initially.
Doesn't effect the lower readings as the arm just hangs down when it's empty. It's empty now as I had to take the tank out so I know that it won't give me a false reading
My gauge showed below the empty line but still had 3 gallon of fuel in. I used the fine tune hole in he back of the gauge to adjust the needle to the top of the red section so i no when the needle drops to there i still have 3 gallon left. I haven't filled it yet so don't know if it will read full but an't see why not.
