Fuel tank construction and level indicator

[ApexHunter]

The low fuel indicator light in 1951 seems to come on early. I generally have ~5 gallons left in there when the light comes on. Usually i drive an extra ~50 miles after the light comes on for this reason.

This morning i started 1951 and it took an extra 4 cranks or so before she fired up. Then, on my way to work there were two instances where i was turning and the car stumbled a bit. I assumed maybe the fuel level was actually low this time. However when i filled up it only took 13.2 gallons. So where the heck was the remaining 3 gallons when i was going around the corner? I wasn't going very fast.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I realize that a stumble or hesistation during acceleration could mean a lot of things, but considering i don't usually have that issue i thought it could have something to do with the low fuel level, especially since it only happened while turning.

This led me to wonder about what the internal construction of the tank is like (i.e. baffles etc. to keep the fuel near the pickup). Has anyone cut one open or is otherwise familiar with its internal construction?

On a side note, would the fact that the needle goes to the empty side of the gauge early, and when full never makes it all the way to the right side of the gauge indicate too much resistance in the circuit?

 

Explain:

Quote:
On a side note, would the fact that the needle goes to the empty side of the gauge early, and when full never makes it all the way to the right side of the gauge indicate too much resistance in the circuit?



Doesn't the needle go to all the way to the right side of the gauge?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Every EDM 6th gen i know goes even further than the gauge indicates to the right when the fuel tank is full.


If this is a common problem with the vr4's, maybe you guys should use other gauge indicators in the dashes. I've got a US dash at home. I should install it one of these days and see if the fuel gauge does anything differently.

 

[H05TYL]

There is a very simple baffle arrangement in the tank (you can see it when you remove the fuel pump - there may be a picture somewhere in a "how to install a walbro" thread).

If the gauge doesn't ever go all the way to full it could be that the bracket with the sender for the gauge is bent.

The fuel light should come on with between 10 and 15 litres remaining in the tank.

 

[Whoodoo]

Interestingly enough I had a recent experience with this sort of thing. My light had come on and as usual I kept on driving because the trip odometer had only just ticked over 300 miles. The car starts hesitating and I think, "uh oh, better get to the gas station soon." Almost made it there, but it died a few hundred feet early and I had to push it the rest of the way (yikes this thing is a pig!). I put the pump holder on and let it go and it stops at 14.6 gallons.

I think what's happening is the gas is flowing in at a fast rate and because of the filler neck geometry, when the level of gas gets fairly high, gas gets trapped and 'glugs' back up through the neck and shuts off the pump. Next time I fill up I'll let it pump at full speed then, after it shuts off, see if I can get any more in the tank by letting it in slowly.

Just so you know, my gauge behaves similar to yours. After I fill up (never gives me much more than 14 gallons till it shuts off), the gauge doesn't go all the way to the right. I don't notice that it goes down to empty extra fast though.

 

[BoostedAWD91]

I really dont trust the gas pumps shut off. There has been alot of times where it shut off when it wasnt even close to full. I just listen to the sound and you can tell when its starting to come up the fill tube.

 

[H05TYL]

Quoting Whoodoo:
Interestingly enough I had a recent experience with this sort of thing. My light had come on and as usual I kept on driving because the trip odometer had only just ticked over 300 miles. The car starts hesitating and I think, "uh oh, better get to the gas station soon." Almost made it there, but it died a few hundred feet early and I had to push it the rest of the way (yikes this thing is a pig!). I put the pump holder on and let it go and it stops at 14.6 gallons.




14.6 US gallons is 55.26701 Litres, the tank holds 62L according to Mitsubishi so there's theoretically nearly 7L of fuel still in the tank - this should be more than enough for the pump inlet to be submerged unless you have a sizable dent in the bottom of your fuel tank...

 

[ApexHunter]

Quoting galantgti:
Explain:




As far as i know, the needle on the USDM clusters normally does go all the way to the right when the tank is full. There is a problem with mine though. Even when my tank is full, the needle will be a little bit off. Here's a pic of it, right after filling up.

 

[Whoodoo]

^^^ Samesies. Thats actually almost exactly where mine settles in after a fill up as well.

 

[Struc]

Geez, I thought it was only my car that did that. I was going to bend the float rod a bit the next time I went in there.

 

[gtluke]

Mine is the exact same thing as the picture. I always figured I didn't put the float back in correctly.

 

[solidviper89]

I dont know if mine is broken or something, but mine always goes past 'F', when filled up right.

 

My fuel gauge sits exactly were the picture shows after fill up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
What would cause this?

 

[jepherz]

My gauge acts the same way as described above, and I believe my dummy light to come on early as well. It's hard to test though, because I'm not ballsy enough to 'test' it! I can never get more than 12 or so gallons in there on fill-up.

 

[JNR]

Do rusty grounds affect the gauge?

 

[turbowop]

1051 rarely gets to the full mark when fully filled up and 503 never goes above 2/3.

The low fuel light doesn't work on 503 either and the bulb is fine. Nothing on the fuel pump bracket is bent and there are zero rusty grounds as well. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[ercp98]

have you guys taken your instrument cluster apart? because i had the same issue because i returned the needle at the wrong mark when i put the cluster together. so it was reading incorrectly. i took it apart after filling up and set the needle to where i think it should be when it is a full tank. hope this makes sense.

 

[Hertz]

Quoting jepherz:
My gauge acts the same way as described above, and I believe my dummy light to come on early as well. It's hard to test though, because I'm not ballsy enough to 'test' it! I can never get more than 12 or so gallons in there on fill-up.



IRRC, the idiot light and the level are different sensors. It could be related to the height of the housing/senders to the tank. Big fat new gasket? Or did you double up on the gaskets? I wonder, given the surface area of the tank, how much 1 mm of height difference makes.

However, I always figured it to be the bend of the float arm on the level sender being out of whack.

You could just pop the cover on the cluster and tweak the needle over... there's nothing holding it in place besides friction. Give it a couple clockwise twists.

My idiot light was also out after a fuel pump rewire. I swear I did everything correctly, but never really cared enough to go through messing with it again to fix it. I will admit though I ran out of gas a few times. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

This seems to be a common problem that nobody has the answer to, but it also turned up a couple "could be" fix methods. It's worth a try for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[blacksheep]

has everyone here with the gauge issue upgraded their pump? Just wondering...

 

[Brunoboy]

Quoting ApexHunter:
Quoting galantgti:
Explain:




As far as i know, the needle on the USDM clusters normally does go all the way to the right when the tank is full. There is a problem with mine though. Even when my tank is full, the needle will be a little bit off. Here's a pic of it, right after filling up.

mines like this as well.
-shane