Fuel guage being funky

[Stevepiglet]

When my fuel gauge gets just below half way, it drops to empty and stays there until I top it back up above the half way mark.
Does anybody know what might be causing this please? I do quite high mileage in the middle of nowhere so need to know how much fuel I've got and keeping a gallon of petrol in the back of a Traveler in warmer temperatures becomes a bit smelly!

[bmcecosse]

Welcome to the forum! It will only be 'smelly' if the spare can is not properly sealed! I always carry spare fuel...and no smell. What age of car is it? Are you sure the smell is not from a corroded/leaky tank??

[Boomlander]

Sounds like a dodgy sender unit in the fuel tank - try a replacement.
No problem with carrying a spare gallon in the boot. I use a standard plastic can and only get a problem with petrol smell if I've been careless when filling and spill some down the side of the can.

[Stevepiglet]

Thanks guys.
The tank is fairly new so I'm pretty sure it's not leaking. the spare can leaks fumes once it's warmed up from the sun shining through the windows and swollen like a balloon!
The car was 44 yesterday! So it's a 1970 Traveler.
I'll try the sender unit...
Don't suppose anyone knows where I can get hold of a Liter of Almond green paint...?

[bmcecosse]

Not wise to leave petrol can in direct sunlight! Celly paint on ebay.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-Litre-Morri ... 3a8930a730

[Stevepiglet]

That's my thinking too...
Cheers for the link!

[Boomlander]

When using a plastic fuel can leave an expansion space inside when filling - don't fill above the 5 litre mark or the can will balloon if it gets warm!

[Gareth Rogers]

I had a fuel smell from my Traveller! Having just replaced the old style sender unit, experts on here told me to put Blue Hylomar on both sides of sender gasket to stop smell. Smell only comes when tank is full or near full

[Nickol]

My treveller, when I got it, had a similar problem which took a while to solve.

One of the previous owners had obviously been scouring the junk yrads for anything which would fit and installed a sender unit for the earlier models which not only had positiv earth but also to compensate for this , presumably, fitted a gauge from another morris model altogether ( Empty was on the opposite side to what it should be.)