13 replies to this topic

[JonnyBMX]

SO....

i filled up from what i thought was empty.... to full last night which came to £25.... only 18 litres of fuel... what the hell... should hold 34 litres if its a7.5 gallon tank..

4,55* 7.5 = 34 litres... went on journey maybe 40 miles total... back down to half a tank what the hell is going on here??

any one come across a similar thing?

thanks Jonny

[brivinci]

Mine does the same. I remember reading somewhere that they all do that on these cars. I really would love a fix though. I hate not really knowing how much I have left. Mine usually shows empty at a little less then a half a tank.

[oscat]

I think it's one of those things you've got to live with in a mini. When I first got mine it would only read half a tank when it was full and would show empty when there was about half left.
I got the sender unit changed and it now reads full when brimmed but it hits empty at just under half full. I know that I can get around 100 miles more when it hits the red line.
Most of the time I just play it safe and fill her up every week...

[Mika Järvelä]

Same thing. At the start of red line it fills 15liters and bottom of red 20liters. Last time it was on red I tested resistance of sensor, and it seemed to be ok. So failure on my car definatly is on either too much resistanve on wiring, or gauge is failed. I think this is common symptom on SPi/MPi Minis, as all of those I know have this problem.

I think I'am just going to fit extra external resistor on fuel sensor, so it will show empty side right. Not the absolute right thing to do, but will fix the problem more easily than trying to source good new fuel gauge in Finland (as importing of Minis has ended 1980).

[bcjames]

Where are you thinking its empty on the gauge? My red line and most of the E both mark above my empty point, although I've never dared find out how much by!

[mini-luke]

Empty on mine is about 18 litres from full, so I play fuel gauge roulette trying to guess when it really is empty.

[brivinci]

I really hate not having a working gauge. My Mini is not my daily and I go between cars a lot of the time. Its just one thing I wish I didnt have to worry about. Heck, if Rover would have just put a trip-meter, that would have at least been a help!

[JonnyBMX]

well it did work... i think after pissing about moving the tank for welding it has got messed up somehow, my m8 has a spare spi tank and sender so im going to try that in the car, ive never let the car run outa petrol, but i just did L2B 100 miles home from redline sooooo no idea whats going on ahha!

[zinzan]

Mine was reading about 3/4th when full. Recently shifted the tank to get at a boot floor rust hole and when I put it back it now seems to be reading accurately! Maybe it got shaken or something. Will watch to see if it actually works.

[Szolders]

In my MPi when i fill it till i can see some petrol in the neck, te gauge is little over full, but i have to fill it "manually". On petrol station when the pistol automatically shut off the fuel, i've got nearly 3/4 on gauge. But still when on redline, there is a plenty of fuel. I was thinking, that maybe the float thing is not reaching the bottom of tank, but it does. Shorter arm will be better...

[jedduh01]

I just totally got tired of seeing below Half all the time in the mini and only a few gallons (US) to fill up. Thinking i need to go see petrol station all the time. I had to take a stab at repair.

The gauge showed E- and I kept driving.... Driving longer and longer and tapping on tank ,. I thought I got the fuel down pretty Low. I think i had atleast 2 gallons still left

I pulled out the tank, (STILL HEAVY - Lots of fuel inside) Tipped on side and Removed the sender -

where the float rod meets the sender unit... the rod has a kink . I simply bent that kink a little further... about 1 inch downward more..

This is changing where the sender reads - LOW and High.

Re assembled. started back up and ...
This brought my fuel back UP - to 1/4 of a tank! exactly where I think it should be.


Im still driving antooher day on the fuel- and the gauge is now creeping back down further to the E again! so im def getting better showing out of my gallons of gas. Im not going to continue to guess-

If i need to - Ill adjust the arm again!

Goodluck to all!

[Skortchio]

When I bought my car (an SPi converted to carb) the fuel gauge only read up to a fraction under 1/2 but the lower part worked fine.

Bridged the sender wires to confirm the gauge worked fine, then drained the tank, pulled out the sender to find it was a carb shaped one, ie. straight. but the FI tanks need a kink in the sender. So I kinked it, aloowing it to move through it's full range.

Before finishing I popped 2L of fuel in the tank and adjusted the float so it showed red on the gauge. Now have a fully functioning fuel gauge with no issues and know how much is left when I hit the red.

[Alex_B]

I am now playing fuel gauge roulette, when mine is back on the road next week I am gunna fill a jerry can, pop it in my boot and keep driving till it starts to splutter, but when I fill it till it clicks at the pump and that lines up with F on the gauge, so I think it does read accurately :)

[jedduh01]

After doing my modification --- i was Finally getting closer to E - Again - same tank of gas..

I didnt want to push it too far and run out .. so I filled back up --- 6 Gallons to fill back up - so 2 were left in the tank - and i wasnt even that LOW on the gauge yet.

I will be going a bit Farther this next tank of fuel - try to really find how LOW LOW IS.

UPON refilling - the gauge stayed at FULL nearly FOREVER ! it took a while to start coming down - when it finally did it swooped past 1/2 quickly and now is headed towards empty.

Next ill be able to figure some MPG's and range with the adjusted sender unit..

Everyone should "adjust" their sender unit!/