i think i have a faulty fuel sender unit

Feb 28, 2008
3,990
1
Scotland
after these past few months about my constant going on about crap fuel consumption, it got better as the cold went away, and driving more carfully but about town was terrible. the other day i was just pulling into the petrol station when i notice my fuel guage went from empty red line, to full quarter, light buzzed on and off 2-3 times and it just kept moving for about 20 seconds.....after all this time i dont think i have a fuel problem, i think i have a faulty fuel sender unit....anyone agree? got one priced from dave at sere motors. £110 posted, hopefully the end to my troubles.
 

gezmeister

I need a derv!!
Apr 1, 2008
2,172
0
Norwich
Can't see how its linked myself. Just cos your clocks are telling you an inaccurate reading, doesn't mean the fuel isn't there, So if you have a full tank in there, you will still have x amount of miles, an inaccurate reading doesn't alter that surely?
 

vroomtshh

Full Member
Sep 11, 2005
4,222
3
Dreghorn, Scotland
Can't see how its linked myself. Just cos your clocks are telling you an inaccurate reading, doesn't mean the fuel isn't there, So if you have a full tank in there, you will still have x amount of miles, an inaccurate reading doesn't alter that surely?

Agreed. I still think the best thing to do is fill up, put a can in the boot and keep going til you run out. Then you'll know exactly how far it would go on one tank. and possibly save you £110
 
Feb 28, 2008
3,990
1
Scotland
yehh. well the fuel sender unit tells the fuel gauge what to sit at by what level it reads in the tank. and if it aint working it aint gonna know what to read. it might know roughly. maybe the float has seized up?
 

vroomtshh

Full Member
Sep 11, 2005
4,222
3
Dreghorn, Scotland
yehh. well the fuel sender unit tells the fuel gauge what to sit at by what level it reads in the tank. and if it aint working it aint gonna know what to read. it might know roughly. maybe the float has seized up?

What you;re saying is right, but how will you know if its the sender, without finding out how far you can go on a tank of fuel. If you drive til the fuel light comes on, you;ve got approx a gallon left in the tank. So, if you filled up from there, took a not of how much you filled up with and checked against the size of the tank, you'd know if the guage and sender were accurate.
 
Feb 28, 2008
3,990
1
Scotland
well if i put £10 in and it sat just below a 1/4 i mean barely. fuel light was on after 12 miles......ran it for another 60 odds. was reading below bare minimum for ages
 

vroomtshh

Full Member
Sep 11, 2005
4,222
3
Dreghorn, Scotland
well if i put £10 in and it sat just below a 1/4 i mean barely. fuel light was on after 12 miles......ran it for another 60 odds. was reading below bare minimum for ages

You can;t judge by putting a tenner in. Coz the guage might be faulty so it might not move at all or move loads.
The only way you;re going to find out is to fill the tank.
Replacing the sender (if its faulty) is what you need to do. But until you know the sender is faulty, your spending money on a part you don;t need.

You;ve changed a fair amount of bits so far, but you don;t actually know if you have any problem at all.
 
Feb 28, 2008
3,990
1
Scotland
true but i would like to try it haha, my bro is a time served seat mechanic, he said there is a good chance it might be faulty.
 
Feb 28, 2008
3,990
1
Scotland
see it done superb on the motorway when i last filled up but seems just to get to that last 1/4 and dissappear, town driving miles aint soo hot. i think i might just buy a new one when i come back from ma holidays and that way i have complete peace of mind.
 

Veyron

Active Member
Dec 3, 2009
2,307
3
Birmingham
see it done superb on the motorway when i last filled up but seems just to get to that last 1/4 and dissappear, town driving miles aint soo hot. i think i might just buy a new one when i come back from ma holidays and that way i have complete peace of mind.

Mine drinks the last quarter too, i think its the shape of the petrol tank because a fiver will fill it to a quarter but a tenner wont fill it to an half so maybe the tank is thinner at the bottom?
 

ibiza64

Active Member
Jun 23, 2009
238
0
Agreed. I still think the best thing to do is fill up, put a can in the boot and keep going til you run out. Then you'll know exactly how far it would go on one tank. and possibly save you £110


its really bad to run your car out of petrol? it brings up all the gunk and crap from the bottom of the tank doesn't it? i did it once and and it messed up a few sensors and the car wouldnt drive properly untill fixed.
 

vroomtshh

Full Member
Sep 11, 2005
4,222
3
Dreghorn, Scotland
its really bad to run your car out of petrol? it brings up all the gunk and crap from the bottom of the tank doesn't it? i did it once and and it messed up a few sensors and the car wouldnt drive properly untill fixed.

You mean the bottom of the tank where the fuel pickup is? Where all your fuel comes from?
 

ibiza64

Active Member
Jun 23, 2009
238
0
i mean if you run it out of fuel untill it stops.......its bad for your car. maybe i should hve been clearer. sorry, was just saying what happend to me and what i was told.
 

Aimez

Active Member
Must say I mentioned level sensor may be faulty, sound like what people say with ad blue gauges problem we have with HGV. The driver is convinced he is using more and keeps topping it up paranoid he will run out but it was the level sensor every time. Obviously this is not the same thing but as you changed other bits it can't be the car using fuel.
 
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