Fuel Level Sender Cleaning R33 Gtst

[DJSimmo]

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible if you interpret this DIY repair guide in the wrong way and fcuk your shit up so take your time and do it carefully and it will all work out. I setup this guide because there were many threads on SAU about fuel gauge & sender problems but none with an answer to the problems that I was having with my fuel gauge and fuel sender.

Problems:

-Fuel gauge would go from full to empty and then back to full again with a full tank of fuel

-Fuel gauge would go below empty 'E' and would just stay there with a full tank of fuel

-Fuel gauge was not accurate and the needle points to 'E' with 10-20 liters left in the tank.

Note: This guide assumes that your fuel gauge is working correctly and the fuel level sender is the problem.

Items for the job:

-Cotton Wool

-Prepsol, Turps or Metho

-Knife

-Screwdriver

-Multimeter for testing (Optional)

Step 1:

Remove your fuel sender from the tank. There is another guide showing how to remove the fuel pump so you can use this as a reference.

Step 2:

Inset a thin flat object (in this case I used a knife) under the tab/clip and then insert a flat blade screwdriver between the two halves of the fuel sender plastic case and slightly twist to lever the two pieces apart. You need to do this bit by bit as there are quite a few clips holding the two halves together. Go slow and dont twist too hard or you will break the plastic case.

Step 3:

Once the two halves are apart you can see the float and the piece of steel that it which we need to clean to make sure the float is making good contact with the steel. I tested the float by moving it up down with a multi meter connected and the resistance was jumping around and showing dead spots.

Step 4:

Clean the metal piece that the float slides on with some cotton wool and some metho, turps or prepsol to remove the grime that has built up. It does not seem dirty but once you start cleaning it you will see the dirt wipe off with ease. Don't forget to clean both sides of the sender metal guide that the float slides on. You can see the dirt coming off the float slide on the cotton wool below.

Step 5:

Once you have cleaned both sides of the float guide connect a multi meter to the float plug as seen in the pic below and set the multi meter to read ohms I set mine to 2000ohms. The black wire is negative and the white wire is positive. When sliding the float up and down the rail you should see the numbers on the multi meter go up and down with out jumping around too much. As we can see in the pic empty is showing 8ohms roughly half way is showing 55ohms and full is showing 95ohms with smooth increments in between.

Step 6:

Give the fuel sender casing a good clean to make sure you get all of the dirt off it. I also used a compressed air to blow some a the bits of dirt out.

Step 7:

Reassemble the fuel sender by placing the two halves together and you should hear the tabs click once they are seated. That's it time to refit and test with a full tank of fuel.

[karma_syke]

great tutorial, and good pics,

was wondering, if you were having any of the problems listed, to do some fault finding while you have the fuel level sender apart, plug it back into the car, turn the ignition on and put the float all the way to the top, check the fuel meter on the dash, then put it to the middle, check meter etc...

basically to ensure that the level position is actually relative to the meter position on the dash.

[DJSimmo]

great tutorial, and good pics,

was wondering, if you were having any of the problems listed, to do some fault finding while you have the fuel level sender apart, plug it back into the car, turn the ignition on and put the float all the way to the top, check the fuel meter on the dash, then put it to the middle, check meter etc...

basically to ensure that the level position is actually relative to the meter position on the dash.

Thanks buddy!

Yes that is an excellent idea for testing the gauge if you dont have a multimeter on hand

cheers

sime

[mattis96]

Does the fuel float just float around in the tank or does it get clipped on to something? I assume it gets clipped vertically so the sender actually floats. Can you describe how it is mounted in the tank please? As mine my wasnt attached I'd like to fix it.

Thanks

[rondofj]

hey dude I have changed my pump in my 34 but couldnt figure out where in the tank the sender is mounted - could u enlighten please? the fuel sender wire disappears from the lid connection to somewhere in the tank, do I need to remove the pump with bracket too??

[DJSimmo]

Does the fuel float just float around in the tank or does it get clipped on to something? I assume it gets clipped vertically so the sender actually floats. Can you describe how it is mounted in the tank please? As mine my wasnt attached I'd like to fix it.

Thanks

Hi Matt

The fuel sender is clipped on to the same metal bracket that holds the fuel pump in place in the r33 fuel tank. The fuel sender is mounted on the right hand side of the fuel pump (drivers side). To attach the fuel sender to the metal bracket you need to slide the fuel sender sideways from right to left across the bracket until it clips into place. The fuel sender is mounted vertically and the bottom edge which is slanted (can see in my pics) which go's in the bottom of the tank next to the fuel pump.

Hope that makes sence

[DJSimmo]

hey dude I have changed my pump in my 34 but couldnt figure out where in the tank the sender is mounted - could u enlighten please? the fuel sender wire disappears from the lid connection to somewhere in the tank, do I need to remove the pump with bracket too??

Hi Ron,

Not sure about the r34 but if its anything like the r33 tank then the sender is mounted to the same metal bracket that holds the fuel pump in place. Sometimes the fuel senders fall off the metal bracket and sink to the bottom of the tank. You might need to fish it out of the bottom of the tank and mount it back in place.

Cheers

sime

[rondofj]

Hi Sime, thanks for the reply - if its fallen off, I can still pull it up by the wire that connects it to the lid in the tank can't I? Its a strange sender my one, it reads correctly most of the time but the other 40% of the time it can go up/down/play games, usually when the tank is halfway or less full.

[Madaz]

thanks for tips on reattaching fuel sender mine has been driving me batty with saying empty but having 20lt of fuel in it

and ive mucked around with it on 2 seperate occasions

[DJSimmo]

Hi Sime, thanks for the reply - if its fallen off, I can still pull it up by the wire that connects it to the lid in the tank can't I? Its a strange sender my one, it reads correctly most of the time but the other 40% of the time it can go up/down/play games, usually when the tank is halfway or less full.

my sender did the same thing so it sounds like yours needs a good clean too. im still unsure if the r34 has the same style sender as the r33.

only pull on the wires lightly as you could be pulling on the wrong wires which go to the really low fuel light sender on the bottom of the tank and you dont want to break that as the really low fuel light will always be on if you do break it.

[DJSimmo]

thanks for tips on reattaching fuel sender mine has been driving me batty with saying empty but having 20lt of fuel in it

and ive mucked around with it on 2 seperate occasions

Glad to hear there was some helpful info in this thread

[Madaz]

very helpful today i pulled apart my fuel system 4th time is has been apart since first putting in the 040

my mate first installed and i dont think the pump and float were sitting in the brackets then so he just rested them both in the tank

then i pulled it apart 1 time due to starting issues which turned out being AFM but i couldnt get the pump in the holding slot and had no idea about the float mounting and searching back then turned up nothing as this thread did not exist

then a week or two later when i ran out of fuel i think but float was showing half a tank i mucked around with it again not getting it much better but a little at least it was reading empty but was 20lt in the tank

which brings us to where we are now FIXED, much thanks

i was dreding the job too but i was all done in less than an hour and i set the fuel pump lower on my cradle as it looked like mine was chopped a little higher than what i saw in pics

[DJSimmo]

very helpful today i pulled apart my fuel system 4th time is has been apart since first putting in the 040

my mate first installed and i dont think the pump and float were sitting in the brackets then so he just rested them both in the tank

then i pulled it apart 1 time due to starting issues which turned out being AFM but i couldnt get the pump in the holding slot and had no idea about the float mounting and searching back then turned up nothing as this thread did not exist

then a week or two later when i ran out of fuel i think but float was showing half a tank i mucked around with it again not getting it much better but a little at least it was reading empty but was 20lt in the tank

which brings us to where we are now FIXED, much thanks

i was dreding the job too but i was all done in less than an hour and i set the fuel pump lower on my cradle as it looked like mine was chopped a little higher than what i saw in pics

That is great news, ive also heard mounting the 040 lower in the tank is better and will help stop fuel starvation, and I can say its a great feeling knowing you can finally rely on the fuel sender again!

[Madaz]

yeah not wrong even though i knew it had over 120+kms in the tank i was still filling up and barely done 300kms and was thinking man get such poor economy but always telling my sell no its ok there is still fuel in it

[mad082]

just to make a note about something you said in the original post. you said that the fuel gauge was on E when there is 10 to 20L left in the tank, when it is working correctly it should be on E when there is about 10L left in the tank (on flat ground. if it's parked on a hill then it will probably be on the E with more in the tank), and this is also about the same point the fuel light should start to come on.

[Madaz]

yep i read in my owners manual there is about 9lt for reserve

so if there was 20lt in my tank i was 10lt of having my light go on as per normal

EDIT also i would usually drive it to work one more day from when the light first showed, also had a 20lt jerry in the boot

[DJSimmo]

just to make a note about something you said in the original post. you said that the fuel gauge was on E when there is 10 to 20L left in the tank, when it is working correctly it should be on E when there is about 10L left in the tank (on flat ground. if it's parked on a hill then it will probably be on the E with more in the tank), and this is also about the same point the fuel light should start to come on.

excellent point, yes 10 or less litres should show the low fuel light on the dash, however when my fuel sender was dirty and not working correctly my gauge needle would be below the E and the light would still not be on, then i would fill up and find that only roughly 35-40 liters went in. this is when I found out that the fuel sender does not run the low fuel light and that the low fuel light is run by a seperate sensor on the bottom left side of the fuel tank.

[Madaz]

yeah i did notice 2 wires come off the float and go somewhere in the tank to the passengers side and down

[mad082]

yeah i was just making the point in case someone came in here and thought that their fuel gauge was playing up because it was on E with about 10L left.

[DJSimmo]

yeah i was just making the point in case someone came in here and thought that their fuel gauge was playing up because it was on E with about 10L left.

yep sorry about the confusion!

cheers

sime