Fuel Gauge moved lower than reading...any ideas???????

[maverick1]

Hey everyone,
I have a mav 88 and a while ago the fuel gauge started dropping below empty. So when it is full it reads 3/4 full and when it is empty it is another 1/4 below empty. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it the gauge? sender?
Thanks.

[NissanGQ4.2]

I assume its a petrol.....and I would say the sender, mine is the same...... have adjusted it many times, but have now given up and just go on how many K's i have done. If you do take the sender out, make sure you buy an o'ring for it before hand, from my experience the old one never goes back on.

Cheers

Todd

[Silver]

took mine to the auto leccie suffering the same symptoms - it was a faulty component in the dash, a resistor I think, in my case.

Since I had uncovered the access to the sender (remove load area carpet and sound deadener underlay stuff, and remove the cover in the centre) he took the sender out, however it tested OK.

Havn't run out of petrol since!!

[Yendor]

I would say your problem is with the gauge.

To test it you will need a variable resistor with a range of at least 4-90 ohms and an ohmmeter, or at least an ohmmeter.

If you have an ohmmeter what you can do is fill the tank with fuel, disconnect the connector at the fuel tank and measure the resistance of the sender (without removing it from the tank).

With a full tank you should get a reading of between 4.3 and 5.7 ohms.

If you get this reading then the problem is with your fuel gauge.

You can either get a second hand instrument cluster or remove your instrument cluster and have it repaired.

If you get a reading of something like 20-25 ohms (with a full tank of fuel) then I would say the problem is with your sender.

took mine to the auto leccie suffering the same symptoms - it was a faulty component in the dash, a resistor I think, in my case.

Since I had uncovered the access to the sender (remove load area carpet and sound deadener underlay stuff, and remove the cover in the centre) he took the sender out, however it tested OK.

Havn't run out of petrol since!!

It sounds like the resistance value of the gauge has changed, this is why I think they changed the resistor, not because it was faulty but to compensate for the changed resistance value of the gauge.

Hope this helps.

[maverick1]

Thanks for all the helpful advice.... will check out all the suggestions.