15 replies to this topic

[willava182]

after my fuel gauge being not reliable it wont go above half, i touched the 2 wires together and the gauge read full, so I bought a new sender and fitted, tested both of them outside the tank, and they actually worked.

 

It still wont go above half full (or half empty ;) ) 

Any suggestion?

 

Could there be something in the tank?

 

Cheers :) 

[Barman]

The sender is just a variable resistor that is moved by the float in the fuel tank...

 

If the gauge worked correctly with the sender outside the tank (i.e. you can move the gage up and down by moving the sender) you could simply bend the wire the float is on so that it reads full when the tank is full...

 

A bit like adjusting the ball valve in a toilet cistern...

 

Of course, you would have to empty the tank below the sender before you could take it out and 'adjust' it....

[willava182]

Just when i filled up ;) 

Cheers though, could it be anything else?

[Barman]

Just when i filled up ;) 

Cheers though, could it be anything else?

 

 

I must confess I am far from being a Mini expert....

 

But if you can get the gauge to go from full to empty out of the car (and it presumably goes below ½ when the tank is nearly empty) it must be either a restriction in the tank stopping the float moving or adjustment needed in the arm...

[willava182]

 

Just when i filled up ;) 

Cheers though, could it be anything else?

 

 

I must confess I am far from being a Mini expert....

 

But if you can get the gauge to go from full to empty out of the car (and it presumably goes below ½ when the tank is nearly empty) it must be either a restriction in the tank stopping the float moving or adjustment needed in the arm...

 

 More of an expert than me haha, yeah it goes to empty, will grab a flash light when I have an empty tank again

[Rog46]

I think it could be a "high" resistance I the circuit! I'd run a temporary feed from the sender to the gauge and check before I emptied the tank and bent the arm.

[firstforward]

after my fuel gauge being not reliable it wont go above half, i touched the 2 wires together and the gauge read full, so I bought a new sender and fitted, tested both of them outside the tank, and they actually worked.

 

It still wont go above half full (or half empty ;) ) 

Any suggestion?

 

Could there be something in the tank?

 

Cheers :) 

 

I had the same situation, I removed all the petrol ( by luck it ran out of petrol in the driveway) I added 2.5 Liters of petrol (my reserve) and by trial and error bent the arm to read just on empty, replaced all and filled it up to half ( as in added 14.5 more litres ) noted were the gauge read......just for future reference, then filled it to the top. by the way half tank read 4/5th on the gauge at 17 Litres added, but I am OK with that as it is the empty reading we to have accurate.

[willava182]

 

after my fuel gauge being not reliable it wont go above half, i touched the 2 wires together and the gauge read full, so I bought a new sender and fitted, tested both of them outside the tank, and they actually worked.

 

It still wont go above half full (or half empty ;) ) 

Any suggestion?

 

Could there be something in the tank?

 

Cheers :) 

 

I had the same situation, I removed all the petrol ( by luck it ran out of petrol in the driveway) I added 2.5 Liters of petrol (my reserve) and by trial and error bent the arm to read just on empty, replaced all and filled it up to half ( as in added 14.5 more litres ) noted were the gauge read......just for future reference, then filled it to the top. by the way half tank read 4/5th on the gauge at 17 Litres added, but I am OK with that as it is the empty reading we to have accurate.

 

Yeah i see what you are saying, the empty reading is right so just stick to that haha

[dklawson]

Also be aware that the injected cars use a different sending unit with a Z bend in the float arm.  If you have fitted the wrong sender for your car, there is a chance the float or its arm is hitting something inside the tank preventing it from going all the way up.

 

If the car still has a nearly full tank of gasoline, use a flashlight through the filler neck to look inside.  If the float is on top of the gasoline and the gauge is reading "low", this implies something causing excessive resistance as suggested earlier.  If the float is not on top of the gasoline, look for whatever is blocking its free motion.  Try a bent coat hanger used through the filler neck to hook the float arm to see if you can raise it.  If you can freely move the float with a bent coat hanger, remove the sender and examine the float to see if it has a leak and is partially full of fuel.  If using the coat hanger you cannot raise the float look for mechanical reasons inside the tank (and the shape of the float arm) that may be mechanically restricting the upward motion of the float.

[willava182]

Also be aware that the injected cars use a different sending unit with a Z bend in the float arm.  If you have fitted the wrong sender for your car, there is a chance the float or its arm is hitting something inside the tank preventing it from going all the way up.

 

If the car still has a nearly full tank of gasoline, use a flashlight through the filler neck to look inside.  If the float is on top of the gasoline and the gauge is reading "low", this implies something causing excessive resistance as suggested earlier.  If the float is not on top of the gasoline, look for whatever is blocking its free motion.  Try a bent coat hanger used through the filler neck to hook the float arm to see if you can raise it.  If you can freely move the float with a bent coat hanger, remove the sender and examine the float to see if it has a leak and is partially full of fuel.  If using the coat hanger you cannot raise the float look for mechanical reasons inside the tank (and the shape of the float arm) that may be mechanically restricting the upward motion of the float.

I have a 1993 1275cc Rover Rio, that isn't injected right? 

 

and ill give that a go!

 

To clarify when the sender is out of the tank I can move it to full and the gauge reads full :) 

[matt615]

I agree with dklawson. The sender unit you should be using looked like this:


http://www.minispare...|Back to search

If the one you have fitted looks like this:

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

Then it will get caught on the injection pump inside the tank, and never read more than half full.

You don't actually need to buy another sender unit though, you can just put a couple of extra bends in the one you have.

[matt615]

Even though the Rio is a carb model, it uses the same fuel tank as injection models due to Rover standardisation of parts. So you still need the injection type sender unit.

I had the exact same problem with my 1994 Mini 35. I bought a carb type sender unit, as it was a carb model, but then the fuel gauge wouldn't read above half full. I then fitted an injection type sender unit instead, and problem solved.

Edited by matt615, 12 October 2013 - 01:46 PM.

[willava182]

Even though the Rio is a carb model, it uses the same fuel tank as injection models due to Rover standardisation of parts. So you still need the injection type sender unit.

I had the exact same problem with my 1994 Mini 35. I bought a carb type sender unit, as it was a carb model, but then the fuel gauge wouldn't read above half full. I then fitted an injection type sender unit instead, and problem solved.

 

As annoying as that is thank you :)

 

I was wondering if my tank wasn't original or it uses an injection tank,

 

Shame I have to spend another £30

and now I have 2 useless senders haha.

 

Where's the cheapest place to get one?

 

and are you 100% sure?

[matt615]

I'm 1000% sure!

The only different between injection and non injection sender units is that the injection one has a couple of extra bends in the wire. So you could use the new sender unit you have, and put a couple of extra bends in the wire yourself. Do you have the original sender unit to copy?

[willava182]

Haha :)

I don't no, i would rather just buy a new one anyway :)

Ill sell my other 2

and get this!

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1438.l2649