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wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 15:33
by tricky
hi can anyone help my fuel gauge needle is bouncing up and down and is difficult to tell where it is supposed to be. :?

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 16:15
by amarshall
TADTS (They All Do That Sir).


Best advice is to start looking for a fuel pump every 200 miles or so - or when the needle seems to be spending more time around 1/4 thatn anywhere else.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:06
by peter319
He He,
Mine is the same.....empty with warning light on around every left hander and full to the brim opn every right hander! Also 1/4, 3/4, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 etc at a standstill, I just use near the middle of the fluctuations as a guesstimate.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:35
by robertverhey
Fuel gauge? Waste of space. I use the trip meter to tell me when I need to look for a petrol station

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 13:59
by KevW
It amazes me that if the fuel gauge works perfectly on my brothers old Mini why couldn't Lotus get the gauge to work on their expensive "Junior Supercar".

Trying a new sender is on the bottom of my things to do list.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 15:00
by Steve C
Mine used to be pretty good but has recently gone wild. The cause (as far as I'm aware) is that there is meant to be a damper on the tank sensor, but this seems to fail / wear completely resulting in wild behaviour!

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 22:57
by ian.mac
It's when the needle stops bouncing around with the warning light on.....that's when I start to panic!

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 23:03
by robertverhey
I'm a bit braver, I wait until the red light's on and a right hander no longer makes the needle go up....that means it's getting very very low!

But then I do carry a 5 litre fuel can in the boot.....

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:34
by hodders
My car boot smells like I'm carrying a 5 litre fuel can ...unfortunately I'm not. Waiting for a new fuel filler cap kit.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 15:26
by hodders
I'll give you three guesses... no I won't, I will give you one guess.

Mike at LB was going to order three - but they haven't come in yet. One kit was for one of the lads who works there, so no doubt he will remind Mike. "About £30": kit includes everything bar the coloured fibreglass cover.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 00:01
by hodders
And now my fuel gauge sender has gone westwards, with the warning light on all the time (unless I corner really quickly - in which case the needle flickers :D ) Seems to be associated with the recent cold weather - is that a theory?

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 17:40
by hodders
Searched through the forums but no-one has had much success with replacing the fuel sender - I presume it's a fuel tank out job? :( (or at least partially out). I shorted the green wires going to the sender and the gauge deflects to full so I'm assuming the sender is faulty / dirty.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 08:09
by malcolm
hodders wrote:Searched through the forums but no-one has had much success with replacing the fuel sender - I presume it's a fuel tank out job? :( (or at least partially out). I shorted the green wires going to the sender and the gauge deflects to full so I'm assuming the sender is faulty / dirty.
Does any one know if replacing the sender will sort the fluttering needle out. I cant imagine even Lotus sent them out of the factory like that. The sender is fitted in the top of the tank so replacing would be a tank out job.

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:03
by hodders
I got as far as sourcing a secondhand sender, dismantling it, cleaning it up, checking that it works - and then the one in my car started working again. Intermittently. So I might get round to taking the tank out or I might not.
If you want to have a go, I took a lot of photos of the sender as I cleaned it - and a video showing the resistance readings. :oops:

Re: wobbley fuel gauge reading

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:12
by Tanz
I must be lucky - my gauge works fine - opps famous last words............