Dodgy fuel guage....?

[Spudly]

The nova has an interesting problem on the fuel guage, ive spoken to Andy and he said it did this when he had the car aswell, basically, put fuel in and fire it up, the guage goes up accordingly.

No problem there you might think, set off driving and it slowly moves all the way down to the empty mark and sometimes the fuel light comes on.

Sometimes it goes back up (slowly and waveringly) other times it doesnt!

Im thinking possibly the fuel sender is at fault/lazy, how hard will it be to change it, and is there any way i can confirm this without having to drop the tank (which i assume ill have to do to get the sender out?) i dont have access to another set of clocks to test at the moment either but im fairly sure it has to be the sender at fault!

Round town i can/could live with this fault, but when im on the way to the national weekend and or billing, or other such places, i need to know if im about to run out of fuel or not really as its an offence to run out of fuel on the motorway and i dont fancy the embarrassment for one, or getting done for it!

[mowgli]

its usually the sender, drain the tank & jack the back end really high. then you can remove the sender.

[Spudly]

How do they come out as ive never looked into removing one before lol

[mowgli]

if there are screws, undo them, or if its the twist type, knock it anticlockwise.

but, and i mean but, make sure the tank is as dry as a nuns wotsit or you'll be off to A&E

[Spudly]

Im assuming you mean as petrol will piss out all over then lol




Does anyone know if factors still stock nova senders (yeah righto) and will i need any gasket for one or is it a really tight fitment that seals it?

[Graeme]

I'd also be interest in how to test it as mine only goes between half and well over full

[Pistol Pete]

IIRC they are held in with 8 8mm bolts. Rubber gasket might need replacing though.

[AndrewJenkins]

I'd also be interest in how to test it as mine only goes between half and well over full

haaa mine does the same lol

[Novasport]

The sender has a swinging pickup that moves accross the individual contacts. The contacts burnout so when the pickup hits the failed ones it breaks the circuit and the needle drops. Sometimes you can get away with cleaning the contacts with some spirit but most of the time its a new sender Im afraid :(

[Graeme]

I've never run it down low enough to find out where it runs out lol

[Edd]

Think you will need a second hand sender as iirc there all NLS

[Spudly]

Think i might have to email mr Colin then really, as a guage that tells me when im due to run out, is as important as a temp guage i reckon!

[Novasport]

Which guage have you got fitted, the original one for an Antibes?

[kent14sr]

Strangely enough my Antibes, which had 35k on had a fuel gauge problem that sounds similar. That was the sender - drop tank, knock retaining ring round and lift out sender

[Spudly]

No the ones ive got are a bit of a mix up at the mo but theyre early six dial clocks with the yellow needles, but ive had to replace the membrane on the back as the original one was torn and past repairing, thats why i checked with Andy to see if it had done this with him incase it was the clocks at fault!

[Novasport]

More than likely the sender, the one on my Swing showed empty when the fuel was between 1/4 and 3/4 of a tank. I put a new one in and it works perfectly now. They are common for going so I bought a few new ones whilst I could
In answer to your previous question, there is a rubber seal. If it is an early one it is like a big O ring

[Dan Stanley]

About two years ago I bought a genuine rubber gasket from Vauxhall main dealers. It was for a fuel injection tank (GSI/GTE) with the bolt hole pattern, so perhaps they're still available?

[mowgli]

spud, buy the nova's friend, a 5L green fuel can

[Jack]

Fill up, note mileage, drive, refill, note mileage, calculate MPG and go by that. Mind you, its 115 miles from yours to Beehive, so just fill up before you depart - you could easily go there and back again on a tank.

Contrary to popular belief its not specifically illegal to run out of fuel on the motorway, knowingly or not - but you'd probably be liable for due care if you ended up blocking a lane.

[Spudly]

But having a jerry can in my boot won't make my gauge work properly, which is what I want lol

Jack I know I'll easily be able to make it on a tank but I still like to know what's going on, and I was always led to believe that it was an offence:eek:

[mowgli]

the local rozzers don't exactly rush to stop you unless some git has strapped an enormous phone to your ear.....

i can think of nothing worse than travelling from your neck of the woods to beehive using only the motorway network.....

there are some seriously good roads that you could use instead

[Novasport]

This is what happens to the printed circuit to stop it working...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/NovaSport/IMG-20120422-00220.jpg