Fuel Gauge

[Extra260]

Any thoughts as to why my fuel gauge only reads 1/2 full when the tank is full? It has been that way since I bought it and would like to fix it if possible?

Thanks
Mark

[steele]

Have you checked to see that the float arm isnt bent?

[WhiteRussian]

Mines a pathological liar as well! It sits at 3/4 of a tank for ages then drops like a stone.

[Extra260]

Well I poked and pulled on the float arm and got the thing to show full. Now lets see if it goes down as the tank empties!!!!

Thanks for the reply Steele
Mark

[Skins]

The guage can be made to read accurately.

You have to take the whole unit out, unscrewing it from the tank front. I had to replace the float with something I made from a small plastic chemical container, for some reason (probably because the original was leaking) and then experiment with different orientations and positions in the space available (there are many possible combinations). I also had to alter the sliding electrical thing (dunno what you call them). It was very interesting, it took hours, and you probably have to be a bit nuts, but it's nice to have a fuel guage that reads right.

Given the nature of the assembly, it's possible that some came out of the factory accurate, but I'd say not many.

[spaynenda]

This is an old topic, I guess...but like many of you, my guage was never all that accurate and now has quit working completely. I sure would like to fix it, but am not all that handy. What's the total system like, mechanical, electrical etc? Could it be something simple?

Same for the clock.

[Fraser]

Spaynenda,

One of the most likely causes is under the tank. There are 3 wires from the sensor which exist under the tank. These have push on spade connectors which readly fall off, are just loose, or rub on the air cleaner box and break. Crimp on new connectors to the wires and reconnect to the sensor.

Fraser.

[spaynenda]

Fraser,

Thanks for the info. I'll get right to it as soon as I get the bike back. I broke down on the way home from work Friday evening. Bike's at the local dealer getting the charging system R&R'd. I submitted an article explaining it all last night, but don't know if it'll get posted.

Your explanation makes it sound encouragingly simple. For the last few years, I've used the trip odo as my guage, figuring I better get gas after about 150 miles.

The guage was never that accurate, but I'm a belt & braces kind of guy, so I'd like to have it working again.

[nilaus]

My gauge shows empty just after approx 100 miles, but I usually need gas after 200 miles.

[streetsurfer]

I guess I was blessed with a guage that always worked well.

I did have the opposite problem in a truck that I had removed and repaired the sending unit, due to leaky lines. I was off by a few degrees when I installed it and the float would hang on the inside of the tank. I ran out of gas when reading half full. Maybe your float has leaked and is full of gas or it is rubbing on the inside of the tank.

[spaynenda]

Got the Paso back from MotoForza, following the breakdown. Turns out the voltage regulator didn't fail at all; apparently there were several loose connections to ground (sounds like owner failure) which caused interruptions to the charging circuit which drained the battery which caused the misfires which led me to the shoulder of I-15, and so on.

An hour and a half of labor, involving check and adjust (means tightening a few connections and recharging the battery) and they put me back on the road. (No charge for coming to the rescue--the owner of MotoForza came and picked up me and machine.)

So this week I got the hots to clean and check the thing over at home, you know air cleaner, plugs etc, and in removing the gas tank, discovered that the ground wire to the connection at the tank had broken. Now I'm no electrician, but as I get it, most electrical devices like this work a whole lot better when all the little wire things are connected up properly. So I took Fraser's advice and crimped on new connectors and am greatly encouraged.

Now there's just the problem, mentioned by many in this string, of calibration, as mine was always very pessimistic when it was working.