Faulty Fuel Guage

Jordan81

Guest
I have a MK5 Ibiza 1.4 SC and it appears my fuel guage has gone faulty, wondering if anyone else has seen something similar?

Basically I went away for the weekend to Wells (Somerset) from home (Reading) and thought it a bit odd that the digital fuel reading had only dropped one bar when i got there. As I've just done 6000 miles in the car i thought maybe the economy had improved and thought nothing more of it.

Anyway went to come back on Saturday evening and filled up car, which let me put £27 pounds worth in, which I thought was weird considering I was only one bar down. Subsequentley drove back to Reading via bristol on Saturday night and to Newbury and back today and car is still telling me it has a full tank.

I'm now thinking either, my car has the most amazing fuel economy ever or there is somethng not quite right. Going to ring my Seat dealer on Monday but just thought i'd post on here and see if anyone had seen this befoe first?
 

techie

Skoda Techie
Mar 22, 2003
5,438
5
Worcs
Mine went completely blank once, I knew id filled up but the bars were all empty, key off and back on again and it was ok.

Best get it looked at.
 

belly3

Guest
mine does exactly the same, and has also gone completely blank aswell. like techie says, switching the ignition on and off solved it temporarily. been to the dealers about 8 times, they couldnt find a fault. i give up lol
 

cspet

Guest
The only time I managed to mess up mine was when I filled it up with the keys in the ignition (the engine wasn't on but the keys were turned so the gauge was giving a reading at the time). This really confused the car. It thought it had less petrol in than it did. I.e. it read three quarters full when it was actually full.

I took it on a long trip (over 3 hours) and it seemed to sort itself out as time went by. Is fine now.
 

belly3

Guest
how did you open the fuel cap if your key was in the ignition? spare key?
 

cspet

Guest
I can't remember exactly (it was a while ago now).

Once the fuel cap is open you can take the key out though I think. I actually made a concerted effort to do it. I wanted to see if the fuel gauge went up as you put fuel in. It didn't, and then I sh*t myself for about 3 days until it fixed itself.

I wouldn't recommend it :)
 

M12ETM

Active Member
Dec 11, 2009
126
0
Luton
I can't remember exactly (it was a while ago now).

Once the fuel cap is open you can take the key out though I think. I actually made a concerted effort to do it. I wanted to see if the fuel gauge went up as you put fuel in. It didn't, and then I sh*t myself for about 3 days until it fixed itself.

I wouldn't recommend it :)

LOL! Quite amusing.
 

GazGT

Active Member
Jun 25, 2005
304
0
Manchester
Leave the filler cap unlcoked form the time before?

I rarely lock my filler cap.

Maybe that's why you get such bad mpg? :happy: Someone's stealing your diesel! :cry:

£27 is about 1/2 a tank isn't it? My Analogue gauge stays on full for a long time before it starts to drop. Suspect these digital gauges are no better. Just keep an eye on your mileage after filling up and run your fuel down to see how low you can go, maybe take a can of fuel with you just in case. :headhurt::redface:
 

CupraDean

Brrrmmm Tttsssssss
Dec 11, 2009
508
0
Newbury
maybe its just new cars? i hhad a test drive in a vxr... put it back up to how much when we got it... and it didnt seem to move... at first i thought it had a massive tank! but then after driving a couple miles it went up... and its analogue!
 

J400uk

Active Member
Jan 7, 2010
1,978
3
London, UK
Bumping this thread up from the dead as I've noticed exactly the same with mine, the fuel gauge doesn't seem very accurate at all. You'll be driving along thinking its got half a tank, then it seems to drop quite hard and the fuel light comes on. Is there any fix or are they all like this?
 

Jordan81

Guest
Mine actually seems quite accurate, apart from that one time i had an issue obviously! For anyone who is ever experiencing a similar issue and digs up this thread. I ended up taking it to the dealer, they had the back seats up and took a look, said no issue see how it goes and funnily enough has been fine ever since.
 

yea_good_1

LOVIN THE BOC
Sep 24, 2010
366
0
I think there is something wrong with my fuel gauge poxy thing always keeps on losing blocks :( lol forever filling it up :)
 

Generic

2010 Ibiza FR 2.0 TDi
Nov 16, 2009
269
0
Grantham
Mine stays full for about 100-120 miles. After that point it nose dives rapidly. So, first 3 days commute will stay as full bars. Each consequetive day after that will drop at least one bar.

I generally ignore the fuel gauage and keep an eye on the range. Even though that's a loada crap as well as it says I've got 550+ miles in range for the first 3 days and then drops down to about 450 no matter how I drive.
 

GazEP3

Missing the vtec yo :(
Nov 27, 2009
665
0
Northern Ireland
Haven't come across it in mine (touch wood!!) but my Mk1 Leon did this a few times cutting out while driving along [:@] very embarassing indeed! Best get that looked at just to be safe fella

Mine stays full for about 100-120 miles. After that point it nose dives rapidly. So, first 3 days commute will stay as full bars. Each consequetive day after that will drop at least one bar.

I generally ignore the fuel gauage and keep an eye on the range. Even though that's a loada crap as well as it says I've got 550+ miles in range for the first 3 days and then drops down to about 450 no matter how I drive.

I've noticed that too mate. The last couple of days though I've just been putting a tenner in n it lasts no time at all but fill the tank and it seems to stay full for ages! When I first picked my car up I got a complimentary full tank of petrol :D that lasted me over a week! I find I go through more fuel in small fill ups... don't ask why but it would seem that way
 
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