Fuel gauge never goes much above above 1/4

[Leggie]

Hey everyone,

I’ve read a lot of guides and information on calibration, but my issue is that it never makes it much above a quarter of the line on the fuel gauge. It does appear to have full range of motion as I removed the needle and put it at full when filling the tank and it seemed to move normally over the next day, though this disabled the light for the needle and the oil temp since they are wired in series. After learning of the way it operates by measuring resistance, is it possible I have a bad connection somewhere and if so, how do I test? Can I do any troubleshooting to find out if it is wiring vs the float or something else?

I’ve used the site a bunch to solve all sorts of things, but I’m coming up empty for this one and it’s driving me nuts. Some help would be greatly appreciated! Image attached; it gets above this, but causes me anxiety and I usually fill here.

 

[Leggie]

Maybe this post should be moved to the another section, but looking deeper into some more recent posts, this is somewhat similar in this off-topic post in the thread. The difference here, is that in my case, the gauge never makes it above 1/4, then goes from 1/4 to the final line before E, no low fuel light was seen, and I was able to put in 11 gallons (50L). So, it doesn't appear that gas isn't being used, it's only the indicator that is a problem. I suppose there's not much to do here except start testing leads and/or drop the tank to check things?

Just updating/documenting here.

 

[Baba Galant]

Hi leggie
Sounds like your float my be stuck. Has there been a fuel pump change or upgrade? Are you running any ethanol based fuel?

Cheers

 

[Leggie]

Hi leggie
Sounds like your float my be stuck. Has there been a fuel pump change or upgrade? Are you running any ethanol based fuel?

Cheers

Regular fuel and no changes or upgrades (by me at least). I do have service records from Japan and I didn't see any work done on it in those either. This could be accessed without dropping the tank correct?

 

[Baba Galant]

Your fuel pump and sender are located below the rear passenger side seat.
What I'm leaning towards first is the float may be either stuck, possibly against the surge box, or the float itself is punctured . There are great write up here with images on fuel pump upgrades that will guide you through .
Small chance that the connector above the fuel pump is not connected properly more than likely you'll need to get the pump and cradle out.

 

[Leggie]

Your fuel pump and sender are located below the rear passenger side seat.
What I'm leaning towards first is the float may be either stuck, possibly against the surge box, or the float itself is punctured . There are great write up here with images on fuel pump upgrades that will guide you through .
Small chance that the connector above the fuel pump is not connected properly more than likely you'll need to get the pump and cradle out.

Awesome, I'll go to the fuel pump swap and check that out. Thank you!

 

[Baba Galant]

Just do your best to make sure fuel is below half otherwise it wil come out when you undo the retaining ring( big black sealing nut thing)

 

[Tony_T]

@Baba Galant they're under the driver's side rear seat not the passenger side, or have been on the three Legnums I've looked at, or are some different?

 

[Baba Galant]

Crikeys, how the hell did I write that and not see it... definitely driver's side.

 

[Leggie]

Just to close out this thread, it was indeed stuck. I ran the tank down to near empty (waited until the light came on) and noticed at one point it began to level off a bit. I'm assuming this caused it to become unstuck, since it appeared fine and then after filling it back up, it worked perfectly (well, as perfect as it SHOULD work I guess).

 

[Tony_T]

Glad you found the cause, but I'd expect the issue to return when the fuel gets back down to where it jammed before. You'll probably need to lift out the tank unit and find out what's catching on it.