PETROL NEEDLE NOT WORKING..... HELP!!!

Izzy1

Izzy1

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hi guys,

I've just recently joined the Audi club and have just brought my 1st Audi.

It's an A4 1.9TDI 2000 facelift model. I don't know much else about it but i do know my petrol needle doesn't seem to be working properly.

i put in a full tank of diesel and have covered 200miles since. the needle is still showing a FULL tank.

also when i turn the ignition on the needle shoots to full straight away. normally it should take a couple of seconds.

what could be the fault???

all help appreciated.

:sos:
 
you can get a check done at audi for the gauges to test them to see if there working fine thats what i did with mine gauges were fine it was fuel sender....... £40.00 easy
 
I thought doing 200 miles without the needle moving was the reason people bought Diesels?

Buy yourself an S4. You can see the needle drop before you're off the petrol station forecourt!
 
funny guys...

i'll get my mate to put the car on vagcom and see if it comes up with any faults. will also run a test on the Gauges.

if it is the fuel sender. what price am i looking at to have the problem corrected?
 
Do you have a DIS on yours? If so, have the 'miles left' gone down at all?

There is a block on Vagcom which shows you how many litres is left in the tank. Can't think which at the moment. I'll see if I have it written down somewhere.
 
unfortunately i dont have a trip. it's a pretty basic model.

if you can find some info that would help me i'd be very greatful.

cheers
 
I had the same sort of problem..i put fuel in and it made no difference to the needle...i disconnected the battery then connected it again and it fixed the problem..try that maybe
 
cool.
will try disconnecting the battery and if that doesn't fix the problem i'll have to resort to the more expensive method and see if the fuel sender needs replacing. hope the battery test works.
 
The battery disconnect does work but make sure you have the code for your stereo before you do that..

More than likely it will be the fuel sender, they are about £40 and pretty straightforward to change, I had the same problem with mine, once i swapped that it was all working as normal again...
 
i have noticed that the needle has started to come down a little now but this seems too good to be true.

the car has now done 230miles and the needle has only moved 2mm. surely this can't be right. or can it?

i know diesels are suppose to be good on fuel but surely this must be a fault...
 
Top it back up with diesel and see how much it's used. If it was a full tank before then you should only be able to get about £23 back in. That's approx 100 miles to a tenner, which is about right for a 130 TDi at 45-48mpg. You should be getting at least 550 miles to a tank.
 
ran my car to an empty tank. needle started to come back down but petrol light started to flash when the needle was showing 1/4 of a tank left. which was not the case, because when i filled it back up it took 55ltrs.

any ideas of what might be the issue?

if i disconnect the batt will that help?
 
The disconnect will help as mentioned earlier, but dont forget about the radio code, give it a go, what you got to lose??

Try that and come back to us and let us know if that makes a difference.
 
I disconnected the Batt and left it disconnected for 30mins.

reconnected and petrol needle shot straight to 3/4 of tank. when ignition is off needle sits at red mark and not on R (reserve) (if you know what i mean)

is this what should happen or should my needle rest right on the R

another thing is the needle does not slowly reach it's mark. as soon as you turn the ignition on it reaches it's mark. blink and you've missed it.

any ideas?

or do i need to leave the battery disconnected for longer?
 
Thats how it should be, it should shoot straight across, it doesnt do the gradual thing on Audis.

By the sounds of it you should now have your true reading.

It does sound like you have a faulty sender unit, either get it cleaned or replaced, that should sort it for you.

Can you confirm if that should be the right amount of fuel you should have in the car???
 
HI

thanks for that. i'll just let my car run empty to see if it's made any difference. hopefully let you know next week if i can manage to empty my tank by then.

yes i can confirm that my tank should have 3/4 of diesel left in it. so it does seem about right.

watch this space...
 
audi upgrades
i've now run the tank empty to the point where my petrol light started flashing on my dash. but..... the fuel needle was showing just under 1/2 a tank.

i disconnected the battery but it seems that did not solve the problem.

any ideas as to what might be wrong with the car?
 
if the petrol light is working properly but the needle isnt, it would seem to me to be a fault in the cluster tbh...
 
cluster?????

i'm a bit of a novice so more detail needed. sorry :wacko:
 
Cluster = Dash....

Im still going towards the Fuel Sender to be honest....how long did you disconnect the battery, coz mine used to take a couple of minutes sometimes....
 
if it was the sender then how could the fuel light possibly work correctly though...

The sender feeds both, if the lights working and the guage isnt then its surely the guage...
 
as a guide, when the fuel warning appears on the DIS, i can normally fit about 55L of fuel in the tank, if your fuel light comes on at the same point it would suggest the sender is working fine...
 
Hmmmm true....only half read it...

I would see if you can get it on Vagcom and do a dash check, that basically checks all the needles and display on the dash..
 
did a dash test and all needles went half way bar fuel. fuel needle went past half way mark and stopped at 3/4

could it be i have a faulty gauge?

also when fuel light flashes it take 55L+ to fill. so something must be working fine.
 
Agreed, sounds like the cluster is faulty....sorry to have to say this, but its an expensive fix!!!
 
bbreman will fix your cluster for something like £100 or £150 i think. Or if you buy a replacement you'll need to get it programmed to your car using the SKC code, and thats the tricky part!
 
Can the SKC code be done with VAGCOM?

don't really want to be spending huge amounts on the car as i've only just spent £500 after buying it and that included a major service.

looks like i might need to break into the piggy bank.
 
no, officially its main dealer only, however there are tools around that claim to be able to extract the required info (VAGTacho is one example)

I suspect the cheapest option would be to simply send the cluster to BBReman, because by the time you've baught a new cluster, paid for it to be coded to the car (or baught the kit to read the code out and done it yourself) etc i suspect you'll have spent more than they charge to repair the fuel guage.

Alternatively just make a mental note that its overreading by 1/4 tank, at the end of the day as long as the fuel light works and you know that you can do X miles between fills it shouldnt pose an issue!

It might even be possible to swap the fuel guage itself in from another set of clocks, would require careful dissasembly but would save the need for reprogramming. You'd need to take them out to see if it was possible though!
 
http://forums.audiworld.com/tt/msgs/1486795.phtml

If your feeling brave!

Looking at that, it may even be possible just to remove and reposition the needle correctly, if you read the bit about him putting the needles back on...

Could be a free fix :)

Remove the pcb from its casing, carefully pry the needle off, hook the bare pcb back up, turn the ignition on and put the dash into test mode so the meter spindle is in the middle and push the needle back on in the middle...
 
thanks Aragorn! :icon_thumright:

i'm now feeling confident and willing to give it a try by taking off the cluster and moving the needle to it's correct place. (that's if i can make the time to do it.)

until then looks like i'll just have to judge how many miles i'm getting to a full tank. just glad my light still works.
 
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