Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I have noticed sometimes the fuel gauge in my car drops from 1/4 tank to empty with the light on, in the space of a few k's. I read the v35's are having similar issues and wanted to know if anyone else has this problem.

I pulled the pump out to check but couldn't find anything obvious wrong with the sender resister.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/
Share on other sites

In the space of how many km's Scott?

Mine goes from 1/4 to light on after ~140kms normal driving :)

or

1/4 to light on after ~70-80kms of fun driving

I have noticed at times that the light will be on when I shut the car down, then an hour or so later when I go out again I will have just over 1/8 of tank left with no light on (nor does it come on for a while either).

Can also behave differently on different fuels.... Vpower will drop from 1/4 to nothing much faster than Ultimate.... and don't get me started on Vortex98 :ninja:

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-4991205
Share on other sites

Mine fluctuates the whole time, not just below the 1/4 mark. It can be below the 3/4 mark and then 5 minutes later its showing just above it...

I've learnt not to pay that much attention to it - since its usually just a "rough indication" rather than an accurate measurement.

Lately I filled up when the needle was just above empty (as in very very close to the empty line), but only got 54L in. Other times its been on the empty mark and I've managed to get around 62+L in.

From 1/4 to empty I normally get around 50-80km maximum.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-4991263
Share on other sites

It goes down fast at the end of the tank and probably does exactly the same thing. I am not that worried as I just fill up when the light comes on.

Cheers

Andy

I tend to not pay attention to light unless i am over 400km's in that tank haha.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-4991559
Share on other sites

Mine drops to light on sometimes after one boot onto the freeway then stays there. If I switch the ignition off and on, its back up to where it was.

Im guessing there is a dry solder joint there somewhere, anyone know where the electronics is for the sensor? Let me guess, dash out?

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-4992088
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Lately my fuel gauge has been getting much worse. Rather than giving me a pretty close "ballpark" reading, its now often wildly inaccurate. I've seen it nearly at the half way mark after just 130km or so, then I'll actually manage somewhere near 200km before it goes below the half way mark, then later it could be back up between 1/2 and 3/4...its just all over the place, often out by more than 1/4 of a tank!

Not sure if its just a faulty sensor but its very annoying. Soon I'll be using the kms since last fuel stop to determine how much fuel is in the tank...on a 2003 model car!!

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-5056072
Share on other sites

Lately my fuel gauge has been getting much worse. Rather than giving me a pretty close "ballpark" reading, its now often wildly inaccurate. I've seen it nearly at the half way mark after just 130km or so, then I'll actually manage somewhere near 200km before it goes below the half way mark, then later it could be back up between 1/2 and 3/4...its just all over the place, often out by more than 1/4 of a tank!

Not sure if its just a faulty sensor but its very annoying. Soon I'll be using the kms since last fuel stop to determine how much fuel is in the tank...on a 2003 model car!!

I sometimes get that, seems to be the carbon on the sensor wearing out as I pulled it out for a look. If you switch the ignition off and on, it goes back up to where it should be.

I wonder if you can buy the liquid carbon and repaint it...

Edited by scotty nm35
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-5056387
Share on other sites

after fixing my turbo pressure pipe. i have been clocking 500km's easily in the volvo..

and this is with the same thirsty driving i was doing when i was getting 400's if not more pedal now i have more boost :)

?? what pipe is that?

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-5057959
Share on other sites

rubber hose near washer bottle to plenum area..

You mean the one that goes to the boost sensor (ie. the sensor in the little oval shaped black box that sends the boost readout to the in-dash guage) ?

Interesting, I fixed that sensor a few months ago after reading how to do it on here (power connections inside it needed re-soldering) but at the same time the factory hose split and continued to split every time i cut it and re-attached it...so I've replaced it with a similar sized hose but this one keeps falling off the plenum side since there's no "lip" to hold it on. Its been bothering me in the back of my mind ever since (ie. vacuum hose off cant be good) but I just haven't gotten around to fixing it since it didn't seem to upset performance.

Now that you mention it the fuel economy could well have started to go bad around the time I fixed that sensor...was getting mid 12's (L/100km) and now its consistently in the high 13's if not low 14's... :P

If thats all it is then I feel a bit silly for leaving it so long...

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-5060142
Share on other sites

Im guessing Angus means the 60mm black rubber pipe with the bend next to the washer bottle.

The hose you are talking about, the 3 or 4mm one will need to be replaced on most of the M35's coming in as they are very brittle. It only affects the boost meter in the dash so im not even sure all M35's have it. Definitely wont be the source of your bad economy, probably the heat doing that as the ecu is adding fuel as the inlet temps go up I think.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/300455-m35-fuel-gauge/#findComment-5060484
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Not really, no. Anything you would do is easily reversible.
    • I would like more noise related info for my truly uneducated guess  Does it do it at idle or when revving, clutch engaged, and disengaged? Does it only do it when the car is moving? I've heard "similar" noises from a clutch pack that left the chat room, and CV joints that have chewed themselves out But as Matt said, how's the yokes, tailshaft and centre bearing going after their last little issue Fingers crossed it is something simple  Weird noises make me cringe 
    • One other question, is there a chance that changing the idle speed can lead you down a rabbit hole and is the reason the tuner didn't touch it? Reason I ask is because if that's the reason the tuner avoided it then I probably shouldn't be touching it lol.
    • Pfft. As if I'd ever point a high pressure washer at my car.
    • The nature of my commute has changed. Way back then it was traffic lights all the way, for ~28km. It sucked. When they finally stitched the expressway together I could do a good 15+km of it at a steady 80-100 with no stopping. That alone has gotten me down to flat 10s. Prior to that it was mid-high 10s. I can't remember the delta that I saw when I got the idle down. It was only ~150 rpm, because the idle speed was never terrible, but for the delta in consumption to be noticeable it would have had to have been at least 0.2-0.3 L/100km - which is not to be sneezed at when it comes for absolute free. It's only about 50L per year, but that's ~$100. A few extra pizzas is always welcome. Note that I have a record of every tank of fuel that has ever gone through my car except for a handful put in by someone else, like my mechanic. I can show you the difference between stock RB20 and tuned RB20, stock RB5Neo and tuned, winter and summer fuel blends, winter and summer fuel blends when the ambient temperature is not appropriate for the blend, working O2 sensor, blown O2 sensor, boosting f**k out of it and frightened to boost it because it is pinging, and so on. OK, I probably can't do all that now with 100% clarity - but at the time when any of those things were in event, you could see it in the records. There's 25+ years of simple tank after tank records, so you have to look for landmarks to work out approximately how old any single record is. What's really important is the meta data and that lives in my head.
×
×
  • Create New...