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Fuel gauge stuck on empty

Electrics 
11K views 14 replies 3 participants last post by  M8TJT 
#1 ·
Hi everyone i was wandering if anyone could help me i own a 2007 mk8 diesel 2.2 and the only problem i have with it is the fuel gauge is permanently on empty. It was like this when i first bought the car and i just presumed it was low on fuel so i completely filled up tank and the fuel light was still flashing and showing empty.
I have tested the sender unit and this seems to be working fine as i had a reading on my multi metre of 0.48 i went and put more diesel in and checked reading again and it had changed to 0.26 after adding fuel so this tells me the sender unit is working OK so today i fitted some second hand clocks from e-bay (This is the second set i have bought in case the first set was faulty) and i still have same problem fuel light flashing and gauge still on empty so i am now at a loss as what this could be. Everything else on dashboard works fine all the trip mpg works fine apart from its always blank when checking fuel range
I have no error codes no EML light
I would be most grateful if anyone could help me in fixing this as it is annoying never knowing how much fuel i have .
Thank you everybody
 
#3 ·
Thank you for replying i do have a second hand sender unit and i have just checked those readings and they match to what you said
So i take it my sender unit is faulty so i will change it over tomorrow and update this thread with results
Thank you again Paul
 
#5 ·
... i will change it over tomorrow and update this thread with results
Check that you are reading Ohms on your meter not kiloOhms

If your readings in your post were in kiloOhms, then they are within the range of a serviceable unit. In Ohms your readings of 0.48 is 480 Ohms reducing to 0.26 is 260 Ohms when fuel was added, which seems about right for a low(ish) tank.

If the above sitll indicates that your sender is duff, then before you actually remove the old one from the tank, cobble the new one to the wiring to make certain that it is the sender that is actually duff.
 
#6 ·
Thank you all for help. I tried today disconnecting the sender unit wiring plug and plugged it into another that i have purchased,( As mentioned in above post )
I held the float about half way and put key in ignition turned to number 2 but i still get fuel light flashing and no fuel showing on gauge.
I have tested the new sender unit and it matches up with the readings in above post, so i'm sure its not the sender unit.
I found the post on this site about the tin foil trick to get any error codes
I tried this but couldn't get it to work nothing was coming up on the dash, it was just the same as when i normally put ignition on, but i noticed i couldn't enter settings on dash (speed warnings etc) everything else worked mpg seat belt warnings etc, but i just couldn't enter the settings menu (when you hold the i button for a few seconds) but i could access this on my old gauges.
So i took new clocks out fitted my old ones and i tried holding the float on sender unit at half way again turned ignition on and still nothing.
I tried the tin foil trick again but for some reason i cant get it to work.
I put foil in put key in ignition turn to number 2 wait ten seconds and my dash is just as it normally would be (mileage and MPG showing)So i cant get any error codes
So today i filled my tank up and checked reading and i got 021 ( I had my multi metre on wrong settings last time sorry )
So i am sure now its not my sender unit, think i might of bought another dodgy dash as with my old clocks back in i can enter settings again
Im thinking of just buying a cheap fuel gauge of e-bay and wiring that up as i dont know what else it could be.
Thank you all for help
If ever i do sort it out i will update but thankyou again
 
#7 ·
Hi every one i have an update, it turns out it is sender unit as i tried again today the tin foil trick and it worked . I got one error code
PA50 B1175

After doing some checking on internet i found this code to mean fuel level sensor circuit malfunction.so im going to pull out old sender and swap for another then i will update again on whether its fixed or not
 
#9 ·
Hi thanks for reply, to be honest i think it is something to do with wiring as i'm getting readings from sender unit in tank.
When i had the error code, i couldn't delete it (held set button for 10 secs there was a beeping but the code remained)
so i thought if i just connect wiring loom to new sender unit, do tin foil trick again and see if i can delete error code this way. If the code deletes then ill fit new sender if the code remains then i will investigate wiring further.
On the information i found on the error code it tells me how to test wiring from sender unit to gauge connector(but this was for a Honda Jazz where it says test pins 27 and 28) So i'm just hunting around now for a wiring diagram for gauges to see what pins to test.
I will update again after i tried Thanks
 
#13 ·
Hi everyone i have an update.
It is fixed,
First of i want to thank everyone for there help so THANKYOU ALL
So today i pulled wiring connector from sender unit and tested for any voltage reading and had 0.00 so i disconnected wiring connector from rev counter and checked for continuity. I had it on green wire but nothing on the orange wire. So i cut orange wire from back of gauges and at sender unit then ran my own cable, connected it up checked for continuity again this time it worked so i fitted wiring connectors back up turned ignition to number 2 and fuel gauge went up to 3/4 tank.
so put everything back together drove to petrol station and could only put £13.41 in tank and i could see fuel when i removed pump, started car up fuel gauge went to full (No more flashing light) and computer says i got 542 miles of range so problem is finally fixed have checked for error codes and have NO DTCs.
The wiring connector on back of gauges it is pins 32 and 33 to check (just encase anyone else needs to know)
So again big thankyou to all that helped
 
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