Fuel Gauge issues

[Aky]

I've had this issue a few times over the last couple of weeks and really don't trust how much fuel the DIS is claiming I have left in the tank.

I put £40 in last Thursday and Saturday morning the DIS was showing empty, then later on in the afternoon it kept creeping back up.

Over the last couple of days my car has been showing as having about 100 miles left in the tank which I don't trust. Has anyone had this issue and what was the outcome? I've sold my car to a mate so can't really give him it with a dodgy fuel guage.

I've done a little search and I think the issue is the sender in the tank. How easy is this to fix and cost?

 

[Nilz]

Dude, it will be a faulty fuel sender unit, its a common problem, its quite easy to change, its in your fuel tank, which you will need to get into, it may just be the connectors that need cleaning as they can get corroded.

If i remember correctly, they cost about £40ish from GSF or Euros....

Oh and be careful when changing it and do it in a very well ventilated area, and finally, when its been done, make sure you get a few magic trees in the car, as it will STINK of petrol!!!

Hope that helps mate, i will try finding a step by step guide that i had, although it was for an A4, but i presume they will both be the same.

 

[Nilz]

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/elec77.shtml

Have a look at this, it should help

 

[Aky]

Thanks Nilz - think I've seen that thread. I'll probably buy a new sensor and try and fit it this weekend.

 

[peakey]

mines broke 2 its always on the red

 

[S£]

mine was the same, i only ever put £35 a week in my car so when it sat on red the whole week i filled it up to the rim and hey presto it's been fine since!

 

[joncook]

I seem to have a similar problem with mine but not sure. The gauge seems to be reading right but the 'miles left' in the DIS is out - I ran out of petrol the other day with it showing 20 miles left. At the weekend I fitted the OEM Sat Nav and had to disconnect the instument cluster to do this. This reset the cars average speed and average mpg figures which I'm guessing had previously been running for the whole of the cars 70,000 miles so were pretty fixed. Now though they're yo-yoing around from journey to journey and I wonder if the Miles Left reading is calculated using these. It goes up when I'm cruising and drops a lot when I'm giving it some, so it's behaving as I'd expect, but a long way out and it changes a lot..
Does anyone know how it is calculated? Is it purely from the fuel tank or is it linked to the other functions in the DIS?

 

[Nilz]

@Peakey - LOL!!!

@S£ - This is the start of things to come...just keep an eye on it as it will continue to have a mind of its own.

@Aky, let us know how you get on...

@joncook, sorry to hear about you running out of petrol, im not too sure why it is doing that however, im pretty sure the figures are calculated specifically from the the fuel tank.