wobbley fuel gauge reading

[Redexcel]

I must be lucky - my gauge works fine - opps famous last words............

Mine is fine too. Maybe they only work on 88 MY Calypso Red cars

[Tanz]

I must be lucky - my gauge works fine - opps famous last words............

Mine is fine too. Maybe they only work on 88 MY Calypso Red cars

Obviously a supirior vintage

[robbieesprit]

does the warning light on the dash operate separately to the fuel gauge? mine seems to hoover around 1/4, but never want to get caught out so always top it up before i run out. if warning light comes on how many iles will it do? cheers rob.

[amarshall]

The lamp is separate to the gauge and should also come on when the choke is used. I think it's around 2 gallons before fumes so should be good for about 40-60 miles depending on where the right foot is

[Ozzy_UK]

If it is the Red cars that seem to have the none wobbly gauge do you think the trade off was that strange pink colour they seem to go......................

Nice pacific blue.....wobbly gauge

white, seriously woberly gauge, hard cornering makes about 1/2 tank difference!!!
also fuel light comes on at about 1/4 tank, but still good for about 80 miles! lol (and the bottom of the fuel gauge isnt the end of the tank, still about 5 litres left after it!)

[hodders]

I finally got round to taking my fuel tank out to change the fuel gauge sender, and also the one-way valve near the top of the filler neck. Neither looked that bad to be honest. Then I looked more closely at the float on the sender: full of fuel, via a hairline crack, so small I can't easily empty it. That would explain the consistent empty reading...
The permanent orange warning light has now gone out??!

Anyway, if you can be bothered to remove the tank, the sender itself can be fairly easily cleaned up and I would think a new float could be obtained if that is the problem.
I didn't remove the tank completely & in fact didn't need to disconnect any of the fuel lines.

[fitz]

Hi Hodders - Did this give you a steady gauge?!

i'm toying with maybe getting a new vdo gauge with a dip tube sender.....but the wobbly fuel gauge is part of the fun, then again, i'd don't want to get caught out and it would be nice not to feel i need to fill her up if i'm going further than 10 miles

[hodders]

Did this give you a steady gauge?!

It did for six months or so; recently however the needle has been back to it's Punch and Judy act of flipping between 1/4 gauge increments. I think a) the tank sender is very prone to temperature variations and b) Lotus never got the damping right on the gauge.
Taking the tank out is not difficult but laborious so unless you have a totally non-working gauge, I wouldn't bother.
That said, the sender can be dismantled and freed up of gunk reasonably easily - and I have a spare one.