Fuel pump sender fault...fixable?

Post Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:55 pm

Hi all,

Ever since I've owned the car (6yrs) the fuel gauge almost always doesn't register above just under 3/4 of a tank. It's fine and steady below and doesn't flicker at all...very occasionaly I notice when I fill up, it shows just above the 3/4 mark...but it doesn't last...I don't have any leaks and fuel economy is good...recently 42 mpg!

I understand from reading the wiki that it works on a floating contact...or something like that...is it possible that it's stuck...or something's preventing it from rising fully and therefore is it possible to fix it?

I'm only thinking of this as I could do with replacing my aggressive sounding fuel pump and thought I'd see if I could fix it while its out if I can't get a spare sender.

Cheers!

Post Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:59 pm

Remove the plate above the fuel pump, pull the three pin plug off of the pump assembly, and use a piece of wire to connect together the brown wire and the brown/green wires of the plug.
Where does the gauge needle move to when you turn the ignition on?

Post Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:23 pm

Brianmoooore thank you!

I'll try this when I get a mo...maybe at lunch tomorrow!

Cheers!

Post Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:59 pm

Right

just performed the above test!

The fuel gauge showed full! What next?

Cheers!

Post Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:05 pm

If the gauge went to full, then the chances are that the level sender is indeed the problem.
Undo the four nuts, remove the washers (don't drop them in the tank!) and pull the sender straight up. Depending on how full the tank is, it will dribble petrol for some time, so have a pot handy to put it in.
I suspect you will find that the aluminium tube is dented near the top, as a result of some muppet in the past trying to remove the pump without removing the sender first.

Post Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:07 pm

Ha,

Thanks Bri,

It looks like I have a few replacement fuel pumps to go for, with senders, so I'll just swap the whole unit out.

Any advice when looking for fuel pumps? All I'm asking at the moment is whether they are quiet and if the seller knows if it's the original pump or a replacement...

Post Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:29 pm

soul4t wrote:Ha,

Thanks Bri,

It looks like I have a few replacement fuel pumps to go for, with senders, so I'll just swap the whole unit out.

This is what probably happened to cause the problem! You can't remove the fuel pump without removing the sender completely first, so there's absolutely no point and considerably more work to swap the whole thing.

Post Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:01 pm

Sorry, I don't think I understand fully...

Do you mean its considerably more work to swap just the fuel pump? (as it has to be unsoldered etc)

I intend to swap the complete sender/fuel pump assembly...am I right...this is the easiest, best solution?

Post Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:16 am

Yea cool,

Thats what I thought

Cheers!

Post Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:26 pm

All replaced!

First time I've seen full tank on my gauge!

Replacement fuel pump makes a noise, but alot less...hardly noticeable!

Happy Days!