 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / BMW Cars / May 2006Fuel gauge not working
Hi All, After starting my '96 328i after filling up today my fuel gauge didn't move and in fact read empty. The on board computer also indicated that I only had 58 miles worth of gas in the tank. Any ideas on where to start the diagnosis would be greatly appreciated. TIA! Jim > Hi All, > After starting my '96 328i after filling up today my fuel gauge didn't [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Jim Google groups search. On mine it was a wire in the sender that had come away. There are two fuel level sending units, one on the driver's side and anothe ron the passenger's side. The passenger side level detector is part of the fuel pump. My car recently had this same problem. I pulled the driver side fuel level sending unit and cleaned the contacts inside of it with a business card and contact cleaner. What apparently happens to these level sensors is that the gasoline eventually coats the contacts and raises the resistance very high, and this causes the fuel guage to read E. The proper fuel level may return at some poinnt during the tank of fuel, or it might return with the next fill up. Since I cleaned my level sensor, my guage has read properly, before I cleaned it I had no idea if it would read properly or not. You can replace the level sensor if you want, but it costs about $100.00 (USD), and if the one on the passenger side needs to be replaced, it costs about $150 because it includes the fuel pump. For the cost of replacing the parts, I elected to try cleaning them, and my trouble was solved. The guy at the Parts Counter said that California gas harms the sending unit some how, and the new units are much more reliable. I am not sure that I buy that story, but what do I know? > Hi All, > After starting my '96 328i after filling up today my fuel gauge didn't [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Jim I had the same problem on my '98 after letting the gas get so low that the warning light was on. Except after filling, the computer showed a full tank. After about 100 mi of driving, my guage was still downscale so I tapped the sending unit behind the passenger seat with a rubber mallet on a broomstick. The guage came back to normal. A few months later it occurred again after letting the tank get very low and I restored it the same way. Since then I fill up with >50 miles left and the problem has not recurred. >There are two fuel level sending units, one on the driver's side and anothe >ron the passenger's side. The passenger side level detector is part of the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >some how, and the new units are much more reliable. I am not sure that I buy >that story, but what do I know? I know for a fact it is true in Florida and Georgia. Shell had a bad batch of gas about two months ago that was ruining fuel gauges. Very high sulfur content that corroded the silver plated contacts causing the gauges to read high or to fail. They ended up paying for a number of fuel gauge replacements. Thanks for the post Jeff. Are you referring to the contacts inside the lobes of the tank, or those the wires connect to the sending units? I pulled the wires from the sending units and checked the resistence of the sending units. They were different indicating a problem, but I didn't pull them from the tank. BTW I think it was a Shell station (in NJ). > There are two fuel level sending units, one on the driver's side and anothe > ron the passenger's side. The passenger side level detector is part of the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > contact cleaner. What apparently happens to these level sensors is that the > gasoline eventually coats the contacts and raises the resistance very high,Than > and this causes the fuel guage to read E. The proper fuel level may return > at some poinnt during the tank of fuel, or it might return with the next [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > > > Jim There was a recent problem at some southeastern refineries that caused excessive sulfur in the gas, this caused problems with some fuel level sensors. I am not aware of the gasoline distribution along the eastern seaboard, but I wonder if some of the affected gas made its way into your tank. That said, I don't get any southeast gas in CA, and my sending units gave me fits for many months before I finally pulled them out and cleaned them up. Since doing that, I have had no further problems with the fuel level. It's been about 4 or 5 months since I serviced my fuel level sensors. Remove the back seat bottom, and pull back the tar-paper sheet that is on the floor under the seat. Remove 4 screws from a round plate, then remove the ring that secures the fuel level sensor. (As I said earlier, the left side is a simple sensor, the right side also houses the fuel pump.) With the fuel level sensor out, you can see the variable resistor that determines how much gas to display. There are two sides to the contact, one side that is a bunch of little hash-mark like lines arranged in a curve, and the other side that is attached to the float lever. I used some spray-type contact cleaner and a rough business card to clean both contacts. Gently insert the card between the contact strip and the contact on the float lever, and use it to polish the contacts, particularly the contact on the float arm. You may like to use a type-writer eraser, one of those old pencil-style erasers with very course rubber and a brush on the opposite end, to clean the contact strip. Be careful on the contact attached to the float lever so that you do not deform it and destroy the sending unit. You will notice the card gets a black streak when you clean the contacts, use different portions of the card until you do not get the streaks anymore. > Thanks for the post Jeff. Are you referring to the contacts inside the > lobes of the tank, or those the wires connect to the sending units? I [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > > > > > > Jim Thanks for the Info Jeff. I have the same problem ('94 E36 Convertible) and had planned to investigate the sending units. Your description will speed the progress. Jack (Sarasota) > There was a recent problem at some southeastern refineries that caused > excessive sulfur in the gas, this caused problems with some fuel level [quoted text clipped - 81 lines] > > > > > > > > Jim Good luck. I actually had to do mine twice because I neglected to clean the contact attached to the float arm on the first go around - DOH!. Once I actually took the time to clean both sides of the contact, the problem went away. > Thanks for the Info Jeff. I have the same problem ('94 E36 Convertible) and > had planned to investigate the sending units. Your description will speed [quoted text clipped - 99 lines] > > > > > > > > > > Jim Thanks again Jeff. One last question...Did you replace the seals and O-rings when you removed the sending units? Jim P. > Good luck. I actually had to do mine twice because I neglected to clean the > contact attached to the float arm on the first go around - DOH!. [quoted text clipped - 122 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > Jim And did you you the "special tool" to loosen the locking ring and drain the tank like my manual says? Draining the tanks seem kind of extreme. Jack > Thanks again Jeff. One last question...Did you replace the seals and > O-rings when you removed the sending units? [quoted text clipped - 145 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jim > And did you you the "special tool" to loosen the locking ring and drain the > tank like my manual says? Draining the tanks seem kind of extreme. My special tools were a hammer & a big screwdriver, & my enormous hulk like strength :-) ..on mine though it was a wire that had come loose so I soldered it back on. I didn't drain the tank. exactly how did u take off the Rings and remove the sensor? im having trouble with this step... please help..thanks..peri I used a screwdriver and a hammer to GENTLY tap the ring in the direction to loosen it. The ring is threaded, like a bolt. You simply unscrew it. You have to be careful to avoid breaking the ring, else it must be replaced. There is a gasket (Duh!, you asked about the rings.) that has to be placed properly, or gas fumes will fill the car when the tank is full. > exactly how did u take off the Rings and remove the sensor? im having > trouble with this step... please help..thanks..peri Well, I drove the car until I had synchronized the need for more fuel with a weekend stay in the garage. I have figured out that I can go a max of about 400 miles on a tank of gas, so when I pulled into the garage with 376 on the odometer, I figured I had about 1 gallon of gas in the tank. I decided that this would be empty enough for my purposes. No, I did not use the special tool. Except where the special tool makes an impossible job possible, I have generally found them to be more problem than they are worth. > And did you you the "special tool" to loosen the locking ring and drain the > tank like my manual says? Draining the tanks seem kind of extreme. [quoted text clipped - 174 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jim Thanks Jeff and Adder, That is pretty much my plan. Hopefully I will have an easy fix too. Jack (Sarasota) > Well, I drove the car until I had synchronized the need for more fuel with a > weekend stay in the garage. I have figured out that I can go a max of about [quoted text clipped - 202 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jim No, I used the original parts over again. > Thanks again Jeff. One last question...Did you replace the seals and > O-rings when you removed the sending units? [quoted text clipped - 145 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jim Thanks again! Now I won't worry about gas eventually sloshing around in my back seat! > No, I used the original parts over again. > [quoted text clipped - 171 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jim |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.