Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
Mystery - Fuel Gauge Fault < SOLVED
I'm having problems with my fuel gauge. Regardless of the amount of fuel in the tank, every so often the gauge starts to creep down then suddenly drops to zero, I get a bong and the orange light comes on.
The range shown in the display also drops - it looks like an altimeter counting down to zero
Anyway, it's been into the dealers who have so far replaced both senders in the fuel tank. Got it back Friday, fuelled it up and all was OK until this morning then the whole procedure set off again.
Sometimes it will recover on it's own (on the M25 a few weeks back it dropped then resumed normal operation about 30 mins later) other times it will not recover until I have switched off ignition etc for about 20 mins or so.
Sometimes it drops immediately the ignition is switched on.
Dealer is now puzzled ... anyone here have a clue what could be causing this?
TIA
Last edited by TazDaz on 12th Feb 2009 8:30 pm. Edited 1 time in total
17th Jan 2009 2:39 pm
blue meanie D3 Decade
Member Since: 04 Aug 2005
Location: Newbury
Posts: 6861
no but mine is doing very similar things, the other day I'd done 200 odd miles after filling up, the gauge was reading just under 3/4 (which is unheard of for me), range said 264 miles and then in the space of ten miles it dropped to almost zero on the gauge and stated 15 miles on the range Still only managed to squeeze 50 quid's worth in though next fill up even though the range stated 20 miles left could only squeeze 70L in, so I'm just going to ignore it and see what happens I think MUD has just developed a sense of humour and enjoys yanking my chain and theeeeennn......???
17th Jan 2009 4:13 pm
Roel
Member Since: 16 Aug 2008
Location: home
Posts: 1215
I have more or less the same problem. If I drive a few hundred miles mile my fuel gauge drops to zero. The only solution I found was filling up again with petrol. Roel
1997 Camel Trophy Disco ex-P101JWK (traded it for a Britains 42101)
1984 90 TD5
2005 G4 Disco 3 BN55WPT
Also member of club MTR
and Club Faultmate
Interested in my 4x4 history see my website: www.mudmachine.webklik.nl
Sorry it's in Dutch and with google translator it gets funny.
17th Jan 2009 4:25 pm
blue meanie D3 Decade
Member Since: 04 Aug 2005
Location: Newbury
Posts: 6861
TD, just had a thought bout this one, you haven't been doing the FBH mod by any chance?and theeeeennn......???
18th Jan 2009 7:57 pm
TazDaz
Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
BM
I've had the FBH mod with remote (done by TFC) for almost a year
The problem with the fuel gauge started around 3 months ago
Seeing as you asked - Can you think of a link between them?
18th Jan 2009 8:06 pm
blue meanie D3 Decade
Member Since: 04 Aug 2005
Location: Newbury
Posts: 6861
well only that I've noticed the fuel gauge shenanigans after I installed the FBH timer and remote that's all...
it's entirely possible it was doing it previously but as my attention has been focused on fuel and the cold weather since insttalling it, I've just noticed it now but it's just feasable after a longish cold snap maybe? I'm guessing it depends on your typical daily or weekly journeys, a lot of shorties might confuse it if the FBH is used extensively too?and theeeeennn......???
18th Jan 2009 8:18 pm
TazDaz
Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
OK so the senders have been replaced ... so what's the next bit of trickery along the wires from those (if any) before 'signals' arrive on the dash display ? is there a module thingy of some type that might be a culprit ?
20th Jan 2009 10:47 pm
TazDaz
Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
car was in at Beadles Sidcup for another days investigation.
they found the problem
from what I understand they tested the wiring from the senders to the (?) other end ..
they unplugged some connectors to do these test
found a section of the wiring harness that was rubbing on the chassis and had partly worn through
repaired said section and re-routed the harness somewhere else ..
problem solved
12th Feb 2009 8:36 pm
philhunt
Member Since: 16 Sep 2007
Location: MI5 not 9 to 5
Posts: 1761
Excellent news but it makes you wonder why they didn't do the wiring test before replacing the senders!Clubs Mantec, Tasmods, LEDS, AT2s on 18s, Maxxis Bighorns on 17s, Remote FBH, BAS. ReMap, BSS., RLD Personalised SWP., Safari Snorkel, Faultmate, Three Musketeers & MUD
12th Feb 2009 9:05 pm
phurley
Member Since: 19 Aug 2007
Location: So. NH
Posts: 175
TazDaz wrote:
found a section of the wiring harness that was rubbing on the chassis and had partly worn through
Would you post the location of the chassis rub, if you know or can find out? I'm unofficially cataloguing electronic/harness failures reported here. Sort of a Top 10 places to look if you have strange symptoms from vehicle electrics...
12th Feb 2009 9:30 pm
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50978
Glad it's sorted John
Though I was going to post that perhaps it wasn't a fault.....and you just needed to put some fuel in to make the needle move 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
12th Feb 2009 9:45 pm
TazDaz
Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
phurley
I didn't get any paperwork to refer to, but I believe they said it was 'near the rear of the offside wheel"
So that's the right hand side of the car. I presume the harness would still run the same way for LHD (not sure though)
Rich
Now why was I not surprised by that remark
I put almost a whole £8 of fuel in the car on the way home tonight
12th Feb 2009 10:20 pm
ELD70
Member Since: 28 Jan 2008
Location: Romford.
Posts: 901
Nice to hear it is sorted, Beadles did well by the sounds of it. My dealer just took three days to not even look at my car
12th Feb 2009 10:40 pm
ferncottage
Member Since: 27 Oct 2010
Location: Bideford, Devon
Posts: 105
Several years on, but I think this fix applies to the Discovery 4 as well. My gauge had started saying no fuel one minute to full the next, then today it stuck at empty completely.
With the comments mentioned here, I found a connector at the rear of the offside (right side) REAR wheel that seems to have been causing the problem. There are 2 connectors in close proximity, its not the one you can see from the side of the car, put you head under the car & look up between the spare wheel carrier and the chassis, there is a 2 wire black connector. I undid it and plugged it back on & bingo it's all working again..! It was not corroded, damaged or particularly dirty.. I've since oiled it a bit & will keep my fingers crossed.
Hope this helps someone else.
CheersDiscovery 4 - 3.0 - 2015
18th Oct 2015 1:56 pm
ostosix
Member Since: 19 Mar 2017
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 324
Just came across this thread as I have a slow to indicate gauge. When you start the car it will only indicate around 2/3 what ever is in the tank, then after driving about it saterts to build up to reflect what is in the tank.
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Still only managed to squeeze 50 quid's worth in though 
I think MUD has just developed a sense of humour and enjoys yanking my chain 
but it's just feasable after a longish cold snap maybe? I'm guessing it depends on your typical daily or weekly journeys, a lot of shorties might confuse it if the FBH is used extensively too?
