metal mickey Posted July 28, 2002 Share Posted July 28, 2002 Recently the needle on my fuel gauge has become very erratic and darts up and down the scale. Has anyone any ideas as to whats wrong before I go poking around ? I suspect the sender is faulty because when the tank is full the gauge registers this and the needle stays on the full position. Also when the car is stationary the needle is still. Thanks, Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg Posted July 28, 2002 Share Posted July 28, 2002 Probably a bad connection. Check either end of the connection, give them a clean/ light sand with some sandpaper, and then reconnect, useing some pliers to tighten the connections if lose. PS I am not a sparky so treat the above with a caution - but it is what I would do. Greg, Q 86 NTM (Green 185BHP XF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted July 28, 2002 Share Posted July 28, 2002 Almost certainly a sender fault although guages can loose their damping - my tacho has. Best bet is to swap the guage with someone elses and if it's no better then you can be sure it's the sender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cookson Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 Try checking the insulation on the sender connection. Mine was giving similar erratic readings; eventually cured when I found that the boot floor directly above the sender, was flexing sufficiently to occasionally touch the sender terminal exposed by the worn through rubber cover. BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Mine does this and have searched in vain for the cure. Can't be troubled with replacing the Gauge or the sender, but its diffinatelty not my wiring. It reads accurate when stationary which is good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveP Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Mine also does this, and when I asked Caterham Mids to fix it they said there was nothing they could do as gauges of this age ('89 De Dion, VDO I think) exhibit this behaviour. A true case of 'They all do that, sir' - good enough for me and as others have said it is stable when the car is stationary. SteveP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal mickey Posted July 30, 2002 Author Share Posted July 30, 2002 Thanks for all the suggestions. Don't like the "they all do that, sir" reply because it didn't used too! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asklepios Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 Alex and his substitution process , is "sending" you in the correct direction. Try taking down the common earth under the dashboard on the passenger side ,and clean this connection. It may look fine but strange effects come from this earthing being imperfect. At least it is free, although your chiropracter may influence the cost /benefit computation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Johnson Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 Me too. I think it must be the damper, it is ok between 3/4 & full, but below that bounces about all over the place, I find smooth roads help, stick to driving in France (or on circuits), the roads around Fleet play havoc with it. I must ring the council & offer more council tax to make the roads better.......NOT! Geoff J392PPD VX & Flares how untrendy can I be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now