hi all wondered if anyone can help?
was working under the bonnet on the car lastnight (325),
cleaning and setting the position of my throttle position sensor, took off all the usual pipes and the throttle body to get to it,
only problem is now the fuel gauge has stopped working,
wouldn't have thought its anything to do with what i have done but seems a little coincidental!!!
faulty fuel gauge!
Moderator: martauto
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Brianmoooore
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There's nothing under the bonnet that is anything to do with the fuel gauge in any way. Even the relevant fuses (10, 11 and 21) don't power anything in the engine compartment as well.
Pull up the rear seat cushion, find a plug and socket cable tied to the steel vent pipe duct on the RH side, and use a piece of wire to earth the brown/green with the ignition on. This should make the gauge read full.
Pull up the rear seat cushion, find a plug and socket cable tied to the steel vent pipe duct on the RH side, and use a piece of wire to earth the brown/green with the ignition on. This should make the gauge read full.
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Brianmoooore
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- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
In that case, the problem is the wire from the back of the car to the cluster, or the cluster itself.
Did you disconnect the battery at any time?
Did you disconnect the battery at any time?
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
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- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
It was. The battery bit was because disconnecting the battery can often finally kill off almost dead SI board batteries in the instrument cluster, although these don't normally affect the fuel gauge.elliott wrote: i take it that were a test for the sender unit?
Into 'clutching at straws' territory, but there is a small brass nut on the back of the cluster, directly behind the gauge, which can work loose.
Know anywhere you can borrow a spare cluster?
i had read previously about tightening the nut on the gauge tried that already no joy though,
looks like the next line of elimination is going to have to be a new cluster or at least a new gauage,
just very coincidental how it should go after me messing under the bonnet!!
im wondering if there is a direct way of testing the gauge? i.e connecting a live & an earth to the 2 posts on the rear of gauge!? or would that just cook it!
looks like the next line of elimination is going to have to be a new cluster or at least a new gauage,
just very coincidental how it should go after me messing under the bonnet!!
im wondering if there is a direct way of testing the gauge? i.e connecting a live & an earth to the 2 posts on the rear of gauge!? or would that just cook it!
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
You can try earthing the brown/green at the cluster end. It goes to pin 4 of the white connector, but it's very difficult to work on the cluster while it's connected, because there's not enough spare wire on the loom.
The gauge itself is a three wire arrangement, with one pin earthed, one to the sender, and the other to a + supply, although I don't think it connects to the full 12 volts.
The gauge itself is a three wire arrangement, with one pin earthed, one to the sender, and the other to a + supply, although I don't think it connects to the full 12 volts.
