yober

I have very strange situation with my fuel "sending unit" (fuel float assembly).
When the gas is totally finished the fuel gauge on the cluster does not advise me on it. The arrow stays on 1/4 of tank. I took apart the fuel filter and float assembly (which is accessible through the trunk) and played with the float in order to see if there is any problem with it. Surprisingly when the float is in the lowest position the gas gauge arrow on the cluster goes all the way down and the yellow light is lit, when the float is up the arrow goes up and shows full tank. I have looked into the tank in order to see if there is any problem with the inner tray (so called pacifier), it looked OK , there was no any contact between tray and the float. I have measured the depth of the tank and the length of the fuel filter and float assembly in order to see if the filter gets pushed by the bottom of the inner tray, the result was OK - i.e. the length of the fuel filter and float assembly is 9" and the depth of the tank is 9 1/4". So no conflict.
For incase I have lowered the bottom of the inner tray by banging a couple times with 2x4 and the heavy hammer, the depth now is 9 1/2". I have put back all the fuel filter and float assembly. Now the arrow on the cluster showed me an empty tank and the yellow light was also lit. I thought that's it, problem is solved. Not at all. When I filled up the tank with gas the arrow went up just 2-3 dials higher then Empty line. I took car for a ride on a bumpy road in order to shake the float. Nothing happened, arrow was still on the same position 2-3 dials higher then Empty line. I unbolted the fuel filter and float assembly and as soon as blots were loosen up the arrow on the cluster went up and showed me the full tank (as it was indeed full). I said that's it , problem gone. Not at all. When the gas actually finished completely the fuel gauge arrow staid on a bit lower then 1/4 full and did not advise me that tank is empty. I took the fuel filter and float assembly out of the tank and put in the second fuel filter and float assembly (which came from my second TL used as a part donor). Same things were happening with this device as well.
My brain goes nuts
Any ideas what else can be done?

fsttyms1

hummm

got me stumped.
is it binding up some how when tightning the bolts up?

yober

Yep … it looks like it….when I unbolt each time the fuel filter and float assembly , the arrow shows properly the level, and then when the gas is finished the arrow stays between 1/4 full and 2-3 dials above the empty mark (note, each time on a different position). And when I fill up the tank the arrow stays low, I unbolt the fuel filter and float assembly and then arrow right away goes up. Then again after the gas is completely gone the arrow goes down but not all the way and the yellow light is not lit. As soon as I unbolt (a bit, not even taking the block out) when the tank is empty the arrow shows the empty tank...
Bummer...

fsttyms1

hummm looks like you are going to have to find out where and why its binding now..

yober

yep... that's why I've posted this question on this forum

fsttyms1

with out seeing in person its going to be hard for one of us to figure out where its pinching/binding at.

does any thing look bent or warped?

Lebius

Hello,

I am having a similar problem with my 1999 TL. When I fill up the gas tank - it usually only shows 1/2 full - for the first day. Then the next day (or many hours later) it will go up to about 85% - 90% full... The Gauge reads accuratly once it is at about 1/2 or less... the low fuel light works fine.

If you come up with a fix - for yours - can you let me know what you think I should do? I am not very mechanical (I can change brake pads an oil - but have not idea about the fuel filter).

Thanks so much for any help you might be able to give.

slikz

Hm, I have a 1999 TL. The problem with my gas thing is that, our gallon should be 17.x gallons right? But whenever I fill up, the max I can go up to is about 13 gallons, and this is when my gas gauge shows that my tank is on E. This has been happening ever since I bought the car. And also, another thing is, my Gas Light lights up kind of early, I don`t know if this is normal or not, but it lights up at about 5-6 Dials above the Empty Mark. o_O Is that normal? Is there something wrong with my gas tank, I hope this is why I am getting horrible gas mileage. So my gas problem`ll go away when I get this fixed.

Lebius

I believe I get about 13.4 gallons when I fill up... That is normal. If your tanks holds 17 - you have to take some away for the reserve section (below empty) and you have to take some into account for the car not really being on bottom line E when you fill it up.

I am not sure I understand your desc. of where the ligth comes on - mine is just below 1/4 of a tank - and I think that is early - but it is not a bad thing. I had a ford mustange GT and it's light would come on over 1/4 tank - of course I only had a couple of miles left (just kidding)

What kind of mileage are you getting - I get 17 to 18 mpg in the city....
I would not think that changing how much gas your car can hold would later your gas consumption - but I do am by no means knowledgable about this.

slikz

Ohh ic ic. Thanks for the reply. My gas mileage is horrible. I would be just about 100 on half a tank. After calculating so many times on my gas mileage, I just stopped, hoping that NOT paying attention to it will get me better gas mileage, lol, talk about miracles -_____-

Lebius

I am not sure how you are checking... sounds like you are going by needle level and size of tank. What you need to do is this:
a) Fill up the tank - 100%
b) Reset your tripometer to zero
c) Drive until you need to get more gas (as much as possible for better average)
d) Refill the tank to 100%.
Then take the mileage on your tripometer and divide it by the amount of gallons you put in the car.

You should get somewhere around: 250 Miles to the tank
Then you take 250 / 13.3 (or what ever it takes to fill you up) = 18.79 mpg

Let me know what you get.
Have a good one!
Lebius

slikz

Hmm, seems like a real good method of determining gas mileage. But I always forget how much I pump into the tank so I`d always have to start over. Hope I remember the next time. Well sorry if this is a newb question, but if you are saying that there is reserve gas below E, does that mean there is still gas in the car when the gas needle drops to E and it will still be able to run? I don`t want to take the risk by driving after the needle hits E. Can someone explain more, please?

MikePA

That's why you write it down.

You have a gallon or two once the light comes on.

slikz

Oh ic. And how about the reserve tank thing?

MikePA

I don't understand your question.

Lebius

Ok - you do not need to know how much gas you put in the tank when you 1st filled it up - only how much you put in it to fill it back up. So you take out your calculator at the gas station. You divide the tripometer from the gallons you just put in the car.... no memory needed.

As far as your gas.
The light does come on before E - so as the other user mentioned you have some gas in the tank before E. Also - once you hit E - your gas tank should have some additional gas remaining in it (not much and you should not use this unless it is an emergency) before it actually runs out of gas. This is typically refered to as a reserve tank. If you had a motorcycle - you have a reserve tank - but must switch the gas valve to use it.

Good luck.

Now does anyone know about my original question at all - the fuel meter not working well?

Lebius

Lebius

Yober - have you figured out anything on your problem? I think I am having a similar one.

Lebius