[Riba]

Hello all,

As I expected we have had no issues with the Civic at all, but today it finally decided to give us some head-scratching issues.

Everything worked fine as I was on my way to the car wash. Not the automatic one, they used a pressurised washer. I also had them vacuum and clean the interior. I was there during the whole thing and nothing funny was going on.

As I was leaving I immediately noticed that the fuel gauge needle is all the way to the bottom and the orange warning light is flashing just below the indicator.

I tried the simple things like disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes but it did not help. Next I will check the fuse #10 in the cabin fuse box, but if that checks out ok I suspect the problem is with the fuel sender unit not getting its message across. They might have tugged a wire while vacuuming, but not being familiar with the location and wiring of the sender unit I am just speculating at this time.

Anything else I might have forgotten? Any particular tips regarding the sender unit troubleshooting? I am off now to search for the location of that thing, I guess it should be under the back seat.

Thanks!

 

[z3rgiu]

The fuel tank is under the center console around the area where the hand brake lever is. If you take the center console out you can see where the fuel pump and filter goes in the tank (there's a round access plate) and I think there's where the sender unit is too. Search the "how to " section and find the thread on replacing the fuel filter/pump and you will see the exact location. I don't think they could have tugged any wire but you should first check the fuses before ripping the whole interior apart to get to the fuel tank.

 

[Riba]

Thanks z3egiu for the tip as I wouldn't have expected the fuel tank to be there. I will start with the fuse and work from there.

 

[Grayfox]

Thanks z3egiu for the tip as I wouldn't have expected the fuel tank to be there. I will start with the fuse and work from there.

There is no fuse for the fuel level sending unit.

it is a simple device.
A float that is connected to a Varistor(Variable Resistor), the resistance tells the ECU the fuel level.

 

[Riba]

While searching around I found info that fuse #10 (marked as "Meter") is the one that can cause this if blown. Someone even reported that changing the fuse solved the problem.
That info might be incorrect of course. I guess I will check the sender unit first. Hopefully it is not too hard to get to it.

 

[Riba]

Well, found the cause. The solution was trivial but unfortunately the info I will share probably won't be useful to many people.

First I wanted to share the link that might be useful for others when troubleshooting this:

Fuel Gauge Sending Unit Test (R18A)

Luckily as I was getting ready to remove the center console, I noticed this:

If it weren't for the red indicator, I would have missed it. I suspect it is related to the LPG installation that I never used and have no idea what is the purpose of this switch.

In any case, it flipped this switch back and everything was back to normal again....this also explain why it happened after interior cleaning in the car wash.

Thanks to all for the effort!

 

[z3rgiu]

It must be the LPG switch. Basically it switches the fuel feed from petrol to LPG, and your LPG tank must have been empty. Where did you buy the car from ? I can't see any reason LPG system being used in your country, considering your low petrol prices Glad you found a solution before taking the interior apart !

 

[Riba]

It must be the LPG switch. Basically it switches the fuel feed from petrol to LPG, and your LPG tank must have been empty. Where did you buy the car from ? I can't see any reason LPG system being used in your country, considering your low petrol prices Glad you found a solution before taking the interior apart !

This Civic is quite an oddity in Kuwait. Not only this model was never sold here, but manual shift cars are very rare in general and having LPG is unheard of. We got quite a bit of attention on several occasions. Previous owner imported it from Germany after relocating to Kuwait, LPG was never used here and I am not even sure if it is legal to have it installed. Anyway, if we ever move back to Europe we can drag it back with us easily.

What confused me was the fact that there is a LPG tank indicator installed right there on the dashboard along with the LPG<>petrol switch, so I did not expect another one hidden down there.

 

[nturnb]

This Civic is quite an oddity in Kuwait. Not only this model was never sold here, but manual shift cars are very rare in general and having LPG is unheard of. We got quite a bit of attention on several occasions. Previous owner imported it from Germany after relocating to Kuwait, LPG was never used here and I am not even sure if it is legal to have it installed. Anyway, if we ever move back to Europe we can drag it back with us easily.

What confused me was the fact that there is a LPG tank indicator installed right there on the dashboard along with the LPG<>petrol switch, so I did not expect another one hidden down there.

I was going to say, with the price of Petrol in Kuwait considering it's sitting on the Burgan field with the 2nd largest oilfield in the world I'm gobsmacked you have an LPG conversion... :grin2: