Fuel gauge issue

[WhiteD3]

My D3's fuel gauge has never read full from day one; best it'll do was (say) 7 eighths. Had it in to LR who changed the fuel sender. It made no difference so I took it back last week and they fixed it (They actually said it was fixed before and that all they did this time was fill it up); now reads full.

I've been on holidays the last week and a bit so I haven't done much driving but with 380km on the trip meter the gauge read 3/4 full. I filled it today in prep for Fraser Is and it took 66 litres.

Obviously I now have the opposite problem in that the gauge reads high, not low.

Anyone seen this before?

Oh, and I assume this problem has flow-on effects for low fuel warning and the carputer calculating range and economy?

Cheers,

Mark

[Jamo]

Mine worked only in the top half. ie. When it read full, it was full. Whenit read 3/4 it was half full. When it read 1/2 it was empty.

The problem was the front sender unit (there's two in the tank) had fallen off.

Can't be replaced as you can't get to it. So it meant a new tank.

Yes, you don't get a fuel warning. Well, actually that's incorrect. You get a bong, a message saying 'Engine System Fault' and then the motor dies from fuel starvation.

[gghaggis]

Same experience here - needed a new tank

The old one was a bit bashed around though, so the silver lining was that I could actually get 88 litres of fuel in the new one!

Cheers,

Gordon

[Desert Traveller]

Mine now has the opposite problem, it has developed slowly over time. Says its empty but it can still have up to 10-12 litres left.

[WhiteD3]

Coming back from Fraser today I started with "3/4 of a tank" having done 200km on the sand. Driving down the beach to the ferry the gauge went to full Hit the ferry ramp with 308km on the trip meter and stalled half way up the ramp Restarted again but managed to stall it 6 times between Inskip point and the Rainbow. Tank took 79 litres.

[Jamo]

If the sender falls of, it can move around the tank a little.

But the stalling doesn't sound right. There may be another issue.

When I ran the tank dry (and hence discovered my sender issue) I got 89.9 litres in it, so if you got 79 in there should have been 10 left.

[WhiteD3]

Thanks Jamo. I was concerned there was some other issue and in fact we were going to continue down to Brisbane via Cooloola beach but chickened out when the stalling started. It would stall on a slope or when stopping. Once I filled up it was fine. djhampson, a fellow D3er, was with us and suggested the stalling was the result of sloshing in the tank.

This pic was taken driving down 75 mile beach.

[Bushwanderer]

Yes, I agree with the others. There's little doubt that the sender unit in the tank has been dislodged.

The tank will need to be removed for it to be fixed so, whether you are doing it yourself or via another, make sure that the tank is almost empty first.

Best Wishes,
Peter

[dwaters]

G'day Gordon, my fuel gauge is playing up too and sound like I am going to need a new tank.
Is there any way of proving which sender is faulty?Where Did you get your new tank from? Was it expensive? Can you fit the new tank your self?
Cheers Darren

Same experience here - needed a new tank

The old one was a bit bashed around though, so the silver lining was that I could actually get 88 litres of fuel in the new one!

Cheers,

Gordon