Accuracy of Fuel Gauge

[Scooter]

Has anyone ever tested the accuracy of their fule gauge
The reason I ask is since I have had my Lux the guage reads wrong. When it says it is empty I still have +-10L left.
I am pretty sure it is just the reohstat that is faulty. There is no dent in the tank either.

Has anyone had a similar problem I just keep forgetting to find the time to do something about it, and as a new unit from the stealers is quite pricy, it may take a while to fix. :roll:

Any suggestions???????

[ToyX4]

Hi Scooter

I have no knowledge about the SFA's.
But I can tell you this: both my Hilux's, ex 2.7vvti 2006 and current 2.5 D4D 2005, when the fuel light goes on, still has about 10l in the tank. When it shows empty it has more or less 4l still in the tank.
I have to really push my luck to get it EMPTY!

Maybe thats your reserve?

[Family_Dog]

Hi Scott,

This is usually done so that a driver always has a reserve amount of fuel available. If, like me, you drive for a few days when the gauge shows "E", it is a blessing in disguise. Nothing to worry about, none of the gauges are that accurate anyway!


-F_D

[Scooter]

Thanks guys. :D

I do realise that it could be a reserve issue but on all the other cars I have driven there has been either a light or a small orange/red section on the guage to indicate reserve that's why I'm querying it.

F_D, I do drive for a day or two after it hits the bottom. I suppose you are right though about it being a blessing, at least we don't get stuck along the way.
Just another great thing about the SFA.

[leonbrink]

Mine is out by a mile! It stays on full or the first 120km or so, then it suddenly plunges down to empty, with only 300km on the clock, when in actual fact there is still at least 30 liters in the tank.
I now use the odo to determine how full/empty the tank are, it is at least more accurate than the gauge! :)

[Harold]

I think your fuel gauge is OK - seems like all Hilux,s behave the same.
Rather work on km done: average km/lt x by tank capacity.

[Scooter]

I think your fuel gauge is OK - seems like all Hilux,s behave the same.
Rather work on km done: average km/lt x by tank capacity.

Harold, I have been using this method since I got the vehicle. As I have never reallt trusted the guages on any vehicle, you get to know when it's about time.
After 3 or so months of owning it I was going to Kroonstad on a quading weekend so I decided it would be a good time to check the mileage from the tank. Being a 55L tank I filled her up along with 2 jerrys in the back and off I went. I ran her right down to the last drop and got 420km to the tank (this was not all open road driving) so I think it was a fairly accurate measure.

I usually fill up when I reach 300-350, that way I know I am not empty and if needed I could go for another 100 or so K's.
It seems to me that no SFA guage works properly and that I find strange.

[BenHur]

I have the oposite problem on the Pajero. the last couple of tanks the fuel lite does not go on the gause shows halfway between the 1/4 and Empty mark and then it runs out of fuel :x :x

[Scooter]

Eish Bennie, that's not lekker. I had that on my golf, but the reason for it was a ding in the tank.
I'm sure the stealers want a ridiculoius amount for a new sender unit for the Pajero?

[BenHur]

I would not even ask them as they are generally mad. The Pajero has a plastic tank so it can not be dented, but I am not even sure if the mechanism is still mechanical.

[Hiluxcrazy]

Hi guys

I have had a similar issue-- my fuel gauge used to start dropping at 120kms, all the way to half then sit there for a hundred or so, reach a quarter on 320 then 350 on E. At this point there was still about 10l in the tank.

Untill the other day that was the case...

Coming back through Zim from Malawi, while filling up on the roadside i dropped the little orange plastic thingy from the jerry spout into the tank. Later when I got home I removed the tank completely, along with the gauge in order to remove the thingy. From this day the tank starts dropping at 50kms! then fals straight down to a qurter and sits there for 300km before going down!

anyone maybe know what happened there? how does the gauge work? could it be an airlock or did I damage it by removing it? :|

[Scooter]

It sounds to me as though the float is getting stuck. I'm not sure which sender unit you have, got a pic?

On the old golfs the float was a small ball at the end of an extended arm, kinda like a toilet float and if this arm got bent while removing or replacing then the guage read wrong. The newer systems, if not electronic sensing, use a float in a wire cage and that float might be getting stuck on the cage at some point.
Does the guage drop to exactly the same spot every time before sitting till empty?

[Scooter]

UPDATE :!:

Whilst fitting a LR tank I discovered that when the guage gets to empty, there is actually +-20L left in the tank. This means that the tank is actually a 65L and not a 55L and that I can still get another 100 or so kms out of it. (is that all :? , he aint heavy, he's just thirsty )

This of course means that the guage is not reading correctly, because 20L for reserve is just stupid.
However, there is no point trying to fix it, as the only way is to bend the float to a more accurate postion (or replacing the unit) and then you may end up making it worse.

If it wasn't such a mission to remove, I would give it a go.

[Mr_B]

Hoppy told me long time ago that the SFA's have a 65 litre tank, with a 25 litre reserve(when the needle touchs empty)... this is a fact I have confirmed when I took my fuel tank out to mod the pickup... I drove my lux till the needle showed empty, then I pumped the rest into a jerry can(via a facet pump), I filled the jerry can and pumped another few litres in my Uno's tank...

B

[Dadz Toy BFI]

UPDATE :!:

Whilst fitting a LR tank I discovered that when the guage gets to empty, there is actually +-20L left in the tank. This means that the tank is actually a 65L and not a 55L and that I can still get another 100 or so kms out of it. (is that all :? , he aint heavy, he's just thirsty )

This of course means that the guage is not reading correctly, because 20L for reserve is just stupid.
However, there is no point trying to fix it, as the only way is to bend the float to a more accurate postion (or replacing the unit) and then you may end up making it worse.

If it wasn't such a mission to remove, I would give it a go.

Same issue with mine :!:

On my Namib Trip at Easter I stretched Thys' "believe me.... theory" (that an SFA Tank is 65 ltrs and shows empty after 45ltrs) to the limit. He's dead right

I got 63ltrs in the tank after "running on fumes" for 100+kms further than I previously thought I could go

[Hannes.S]

E= Enough