Fuel guage..Help!!

[Anonymous]

Right my fuel guage rises up off the scale every time the ignition is turned on. Sometime ago I changed the sender in the tank for a new one. This did nothing for the problem. I've now had chance to take it out again to check it. It doesn't matter what position the sender is put at the guage still reads the same. I've had the gauge out of the dash and had a fiddle around with the little setting screw thingeys on its own integral PCB but to no avail. Is there anything basic that needs checking over like shorting out wiring etc. before I go and shell hard earned cash on a new guage? Plus how does it work & why does the guage always read off the scale and not just stay at zero? I understand that the sender is like a rheostat allowing more charge(or is current)- its the guage that baffles me.
Cheers!

[Anonymous]

you could check that you havent been sold a duff sender. I say this because my oil guage used to shoot straight to maximum, and that was sorted when I replaced the sender. I think Spanishfly has a similar problem at the moment, and he tried the sender too, with no success.

Whoopass! :D

[Anonymous]

How would I know if its duff - would using a multimeter help at all? The guage reads high even if disconnected from the sender( which better not be duff as I paid good money at a Vauxhall dealer which has now closed down X-()

[Anonymous]

Mine does the same, it has had a white dial kit and I thought maybee the needle had been put back on wrong? If you find out what it is I would be very interested to know. :)

I'm not all there, Theres something missing, I'm not all there.

[Anonymous]

I've been told by a friendly Vauxhall dealer that it can be either the guage or more likely if it goes straight up off the scale all the time that it is a short. He says they have found that even a pin hole in the wiring insulation in the wrong place can allow a dead short. A dead short will always cause the gauge to read high.

[Anonymous]

Maybe you have a full tank!!

RobDmr@aol.com Xr2????? I'd rather walk!!!!

[Anonymous]

yeah mate i got that prob! did sender, d'oh! when i disconnect mine it goes down, i think mine's shorting out!! i've checked wiring under seats if i get time i'll check the rest!

[Anonymous]

My thinking has got this far: I checked the socket into the tank sender a with a multimeter and it gave a consistent 12V even when the wire into the body was jiggled about. Right i thought, if when disconnected the gauge reads empty but when connected rises off the scale then it must be the sender allowing full voltage thru' i.e knackered or the wrong type. I was seriously thinking of ripping out the sender and gettin another when something cropped up and I had to vacate the ramp. When i next got in the vehicle to move it again it was fucking well working againX-( I wouldn't mind but I know tomorrow it'll play up again! mutter grumble

[Anonymous]

Replace the connector on the wire.

I'm not all there, Theres something missing, I'm not all there.

[Anonymous]

are the wires the right way round on the sender? try swapping them over cos i hooked up my wires wrong on my new sender and it went off scale when ignition came on regardless of petrol in tank. then i swapped them over adn it works fine:)

[Anonymous]

Yea, good point, if the wires r the wrong way around it will read full deflection all the time!!