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fuel gauge

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 3:19 pm
by neil9428
hi, not sure if my problem is mechanical or electrical but i will put it on here anyway.my fuel gauge reads back to front ( empty when full, full when empty)i have changed the gauge with one i know works and it reads the same, has any one ever had this problem,or is my morris special,it has been changed to neg earth,could that be the reason,hope some one can help me , nearly finished and ready for the road but this is niggling me like one of those rattles you cant find.

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:33 pm
by mike.perry
Pos/neg earth will make no difference

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:21 pm
by bmcecosse
If it's the early fast moving needle - I think you DO need to reverse the connections on the back of the gauge. Can't see what else it could be!

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:18 pm
by neil9428
thanks for yur reply, i have changed the terminals round and it has no effect,

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:15 pm
by bmcecosse
Ohhh -well -can only imagine that somehow the sender in the tank has been installed incorrectly. Has it 'always' been like this - or has it suddenly happened?

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:43 am
by neil9428
only had the car a few months, the seller told me it had always been like it,

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:30 am
by mike.perry
If it reads accurately in the wrong direction it still does its job.
Looking at the back,the right terminal (T) goes to the tank and the left terminal (B) goes to fuse

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:52 am
by bmcecosse
Says these have been swapped over to no good effect........

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:46 am
by mike.perry
What colour speedo?

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:33 pm
by neil9428
the speedo is black faced.

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:30 pm
by bmcecosse
So - will be 'slow moving' gauge - and indeed swapping terminals etc will make no odds. So - it MUST be the sender is fitted upside-down !

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:02 pm
by MarkyB
the sender is fitted upside-down !
From inside the tank? Wow!

Is the gauge black too?

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:56 pm
by bmcecosse
Can't see how else this gauge can read 'upside-down'.............

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 8:11 am
by MarkyB
I'd call it back to front, maybe someone in the past had the gauge apart and reassembled it wrong?

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:05 am
by bmcecosse
:roll: :-? :D

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:11 pm
by neil9428
thanks for all your help, i might just live with it and carry a jerry can full of fuel until i know how accurate it is,thanks again,

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:57 pm
by mike.perry
As long as you know that full is empty and empty is full - no problem. What does the gauge read with the ignition off?

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:37 pm
by neil9428
the gauge reads empty with the ignition off.

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 1:52 am
by picky
If the steel wire support for the float in the petrol tank had been bent round a bit when it was fitted, I think this would make the sender report the opposite.... Would have to be bent alot though!

Re: fuel gauge

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:12 am
by bmcecosse
I don't buy that - it's still got to 'float' on top of the fuel.