My fuel gauge is broken.

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UsernameLadiesMan217

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My cars emergency fuel light was on and my gauge was on empty, so I thought, 'darn ok must have used a bit more petrol than usual yesterday'.

I slowly drive to a garage cause I'm afraid of stalling, I put in R50, needle doesn't budge, I thought it was weird and I am paranoid so after driving for 10 minutes I throw in R100 to see if it'll make any difference. The needle doesn't move and the emergency light is lit.

I rode around for the rest of the day without any signs of low fuel at all.

At this point I am convinced it must be broken, how would one fix or replace a fuel gauge?
 
UsernameLadiesMan217 said:
My cars emergency fuel light was on and my gauge was on empty, so I thought, 'darn ok must have used a bit more petrol than usual yesterday'.

I slowly drive to a garage cause I'm afraid of stalling, I put in R50, needle doesn't budge, I thought it was weird and I am paranoid so after driving for 10 minutes I throw in R100 to see if it'll make any difference. The needle doesn't move and the emergency light is lit.

I rode around for the rest of the day without any signs of low fuel at all.

At this point I am convinced it must be broken, how would one fix or replace a fuel gauge?
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There's nothing wrong with your gauge, petrol is just expensive :D
 
genetic said:
You will need to take it to a garage to get it repaired or replaced. Often the problem lies with the float or sensor in the fuel tank, which should not repaired by yourself, unless you really know what you are doing.
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If it is a float sensor, can filling the tank up 'dislodge' it so it works again?
 
UsernameLadiesMan217 said:
If it is a float sensor, can filling the tank up 'dislodge' it so it works again?
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No. I had a broken fuel gage on my old Golf 3, and a spring on the float unit had broken. These are generally not serviceable parts, and will probably have to be replaced.

I paid R450 for a new unit.
 
UsernameLadiesMan217 said:
If it is a float sensor, can filling the tank up 'dislodge' it so it works again?
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Depends. I've seen a stuck one on a BMW before that dislodged but later got stuck again.

They are not hard to replace, just work in a well ventilated area with the battery disconnected and don't make any sparks :D
 
YingYang said:
There's nothing wrong with your gauge, petrol is just expensive :D
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Agree, R50/R100 isn't enough litres for the float to actually float.

Try putting in R20 thousand, 6 hundred and 22 thousand & see if the problem persists.
 
The fuel guage is actually similar to the float that you find in the cistern in a toilet.

It can jam in either an open or closed position, simply by picking up a piece of gunk floating in the tank. Depending on the car, these are usually quite easy to get to, pull out and see if they are working. In a Citi Golf, you just lift up the back seat, and undo the cover plate that is over it on the floor beneath the seat. Just make sure that you don't mess with the seal, oth3erwise your car will become a moving time bomb! ;)
 
genetic said:
No. I had a broken fuel gage on my old Golf 3, and a spring on the float unit had broken. These are generally not serviceable parts, and will probably have to be replaced.

I paid R450 for a new unit.
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That is quite pricey, should I take it to a dealer or a 'backyard' mechanic? (not sure what the real term is)
ponder said:
Depends. I've seen a stuck one on a BMW before that dislodged but later got stuck again.

They are not hard to replace, just work in a well ventilated area with the battery disconnected and don't make any sparks :D
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mind learning myself, but I'm afraid of screwing something up and it costing even more.
 
Fazda said:
The fuel guage is actually similar to the float that you find in the cistern in a toilet.

It can jam in either an open or closed position, simply by picking up a piece of gunk floating in the tank. Depending on the car, these are usually quite easy to get to, pull out and see if they are working. In a Citi Golf, you just lift up the back seat, and undo the cover plate that is over it on the floor beneath the seat. Just make sure that you don't mess with the seal, oth3erwise your car will become a moving time bomb! ;)
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Thanks Fazda!

Not sure what the seal is though, I guess it's better if I do not mess with this.

I actually never thought about it at first, but very rarely my speedometer gets stuck at 70 km for a few seconds. Could it be linked to that?

Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions.

I'll talk to ym dad about it, we have a mechanic we take our cars to, but idk if he can do this kind of stuff.
 
R150 might not be enough. I've put in R100 when my car's range indicator showed 0 kilos left, and it still said 0 afterwards. Put in more fuel. It's unlikely the fuel gauge.
 
UsernameLadiesMan217 said:
Thanks Fazda!

Not sure what the seal is though, I guess it's better if I do not mess with this.

I actually never thought about it at first, but very rarely my speedometer gets stuck at 70 km for a few seconds. Could it be linked to that?

Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions.

I'll talk to ym dad about it, we have a mechanic we take our cars to, but idk if he can do this kind of stuff.
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It's unlikely that the two are related, but stranger things have happened! ;)

It would help to know what car it is, as some floats are easy to get to and others are total SOB's! :p
 
Fazda said:
It's unlikely that the two are related, but stranger things have happened! ;)

It would help to know what car it is, as some floats are easy to get to and others are total SOB's! :p
Click to expand...

It's a Fiat Palio, I'm not sure what year model, but it's the old shape and is fuel injected.

A google search says it must be from 1996-2000.
 
I think you should get someone knowledgeable enough to diagnose the problem first and not start buying parts before you know what's really causing the gauge not working. It might be something else and not the sender unit in the tank. Like cables disconnected, fuze blown, the gauge itself or a few other reasons.
On VW Golf/Jetta 2 (fuelinjected models) for instance, a little ground wire when disconnected or making bad connection on the engineblock, causes the gauges malfunctioning.
 
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