Fuel gauge doesnt seem to be moving

[jamesyboyjim]

Hi all, my 2010 Ibiza is being a bit naughty at the moment, the fuel gauge doesn't appear to be working, its been nearly two weeks since I filled up, the trip says I've done just shy of 200 miles yet the fuel gauge hasn't dropped and the range still reads 300 miles until empty. This is obviously way off as I normally fill up around 330 miles.

This problem has only started to occur since I last re-fuelled, the car has always been a pain to fill actually, you have to hold the nozzle in half way at a specific angle while gently squeezing the trigger or it'll constantly click off, perhaps I've overfilled it a bit? For now I'll just fill up as per what the trip says but what is going to be the likely culprit and will it be expensive to fix?

 

[RUM4MO]

I'd think that your overfilling theory will only work for a TDI over that number of miles run since fuelling.

Yes some cars-filling station combos can be challenging to say the least.

Remember the fuel display as a rule tends to be optimistic for the first half of the tank and pessimistic over the second half.

I just hope that it is a TDI, but with your "330miles" statement it does not sound like it.

Bother, bother, bother!

I suppose at 300miles you could just re-fuel and see how much it takes, if you get lucky, at a "helpful" filling station with a "good" nozzle.

Edit:- hum just re-read and see that the expected remaining range is 300miles, well I suppose it gets its data (fuel left) from the fuel gauge, does not sound too good, maybe disconnect the battery for 5 minutes then reconnect to see if that resets things. Daughter's late 2009 Ibiza did a funny thing to me the other week, because our two other cars have auto stop/start, when I went to start the Ibiza, I just flicked the key to start and released it - of course it failed to start, when I started it correctly, most of the digital display functions in the small display were missing and the fuel showed about 25% when it was full, I stopped/started it and the displays stayed the same but the fuel gauge was now correct, at next start next day all was well!!

One other thing, I seem to remember that there is a specific way to calibrate the fuel gauge/sensor - maybe check all the fuses on that car.

 

[jamesyboyjim]

its a 1.4 petrol, you are right about the first and second half of the tank though, it always goes down slower until the half way point, but now It's only dropped two bars at 200 odd miles, the petrol light is usually on at around 350 so saying I have 300 miles left after 200 is very wrong! That 300 miles left hasn't dropped in two days after 60 miles of driving either.

I'm hoping it'll play catch-up soon or after another refuel it'll sort itself out, its an issue I'll want sorted though if not just not sure what that will mean.

 

[RUM4MO]

I have done the occasional "over filling" on either the 1.4 Ibiza or wife's previous 1.4 Polo 9N, and it does take quite a long time to use the fuel up, just one bit of advice, I'm sure that you have not done this on purpose, but it is not wise to over fill petrol engine cars as it can cause the carbon canister than collects all the fumes to get flooded with liquid fuel and that can cause the EVAP system problems. That is one of the reasons that there is an early fuel shut-off and a release valve that gets opened when the fuel cap is refitted, the other reason being that if that car was then left in bright sunlight, the expanded fuel might get dumped out on to the road and cause a safety hazard. I'm just mentioning that in case you did not know that, that is all.

I'm afraid that I'd still do it a bit if starting a long trip and using that extra fuel right away, your problem stems from having difficulty getting a reasonable amount of fuel into the car at any time, and while having problems you will never get a good enough run of filling to trust that you have reached the correct fill level, and this leads to overfilling.

 

[dm222]

jamesyboyjim that happens to me when I overfill too...


RUM4MO are you saying the N80 valve problem is related to overfilling?

 

[jamesyboyjim]

Well hopefully based on the comments here its just that I've overfilled it and it'll eventually sort itself out. Rum4mo, you are right, I can never be sure if the car is full because it clicks off the pump so often, so I'm always giving it an extra few squeezes until I'm putting in around £45 of fuel which works out at about 42 litres.

 

[propane94]

Mine does this too, i have a tdi but i have done 250 miles before i loose the first bar, the estimated distance and fuel left are slightly different as distance depends on the mpg too.

 

[RUM4MO]

jamesyboyjim that happens to me when I overfill too...


RUM4MO are you saying the N80 valve problem is related to overfilling?

If the N80 is the EVAP solenoid valve, then yes ending up a carbon can full of fuel, it has been reported on one of these forums, that a fault will get logged which can only be resolved by replacing the carbon can - I think, and not the actual EVAP valve. Certainly frequent overfilling "to the top" is said to flood the carbon can, TDIs are not affected by this, a lot of TDI owners, remove the valve in the neck so that they can get more fuel in quickly.

Having taken this bit of advice, I've never had any problems with that part of the cars I've owned.

 

[dm222]

yes the N80 is the EVAP solenoid valve. thanks for the advice, probably that is what caused mine to fail...

 

[dm222]

Well hopefully based on the comments here its just that I've overfilled it and it'll eventually sort itself out. Rum4mo, you are right, I can never be sure if the car is full because it clicks off the pump so often, so I'm always giving it an extra few squeezes until I'm putting in around £45 of fuel which works out at about 42 litres.

I mean mine at least even if I don't overfill the first half lasts around 2/3 of the deposit and the second 1/3.
when I overfill it lasts even longer...