Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi guys,

Here's an electrical diagnostics challenge, I believe.

A few weeks ago, my fuel gauge started playing up. It basically went straight up to a 'Full' tank and stayed there, even as I used fuel.

Every now and then, after i start the car, it will drop to the actual fuel level. However, after 5 mins it will slowly creep back up again.

All of the fuel sender issues reported for R33 and R34 models (I have a R34 turbo coupe) seem to show the fuel level ok until half way, where it will stay, OR it will immediately drop to 0. I have not experienced this, so I want to see if anyone has had a similar problem they solved without touching the fuel pump and sender (I am not a mechanic, would prefer to avoid going there unless no one has any other ideas)

I noticed when i removed my back seat recently that when the engine is on (and even perhaps when priming the ignition?) there is a high pitched whine coming from the wiring/distributing harness halfway through the cabin on the drivers side (will post picture tomorrow in daylight). I'm thinking of hitting this with some contact cleaner?

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

Thanks!

Mick

I've had suggestions that it's coming out of the speakers, but i had RCA cables and remote running down one side that are unplugged at both ends, and no power wires at all.

  • 2 weeks later...

For reference, took this into the mechanic today. At some point, the previous owner had messed around with the sender, and the two brushes connecting the float and the rods had one snapped off. My mechanic extended the snapped wire and put it all back together, and the gauge now reads permanently alright. The fuel gauge sometimes read correctly before when at a certain angle where the rod would travel and push against the broken wire.

However, the bracket holding the pump and sender in the tank had obviously been exposed to air/condensation, and have built up considerable rust. Rusty fuel got everywhere when the tank was opened up. Fortunately, the fuel filter appears to have been doing its job, though its looking a little old and will definitely be replaced in the next service in 2000kms time.

As for the sound, I swear that i can not hear the whine anymore. This will probably be fully muffled when i put the car seats back in

All up, $330 GONE! labour only. This is why we ask the forums first :)

Hope this helps anyone that may have similar issues in the future.

Mechanic himself suggested just wait till i come back in for the service and will have the car on the hoist - would you consider this important enough to move forward?

Are you talking about the intank filter or the one in the engine bay?

If in the bay, rip it off and slap in a new one. Cheap insurance.

Ryco Z200 and no naked Flames. ;)

  • Like 1

Mechanic himself suggested just wait till i come back in for the service and will have the car on the hoist - would you consider this important enough to move forward?

Are you talking about the intank filter or the one in the engine bay?

If in the bay, rip it off and slap in a new one. Cheap insurance.

Ryco Z200 and no naked Flames. ;)

Just the engine bay one - will start lobbying mechanically minded friends to help, otherwise Taki (my mechanic at Perfect Run) does it for $90, which i'm happy to pay

  • Like 1

Just the engine bay one - will start lobbying mechanically minded friends to help, otherwise Taki (my mechanic at Perfect Run) does it for $90, which i'm happy to pay

90 to change a fuel filter, your getting ripped hard.takes 10 mins to do. :-)

easy DIY to replace the engine bay fuel filter. Was one of my first maintenance jobs, and im not very mechanically hands-on. Only annoying thing was getting the hoses off the filter, but it eventally came off with enough force lol.

Alright gents, you've encouraged me to give it a crack. I feel comfortable knowing that if i do f**k everything up, at least only the engine will die, and i most likely wont :thumbsup:

Edited by Lolrick

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Latest Posts

    • Just trying to get my head around this. At 5psi of boost, you turn on your wmi pump, and then you're using a 3000cc injector, to allow flow upto the actual engine, where you have your 6x200cc injectors and a 500cc injector. If the above is correct, what advantage are you obtaining by having the 3000cc injector blocking flow, is this just incase a line breaks between that injector and the motor you can stop flow immediately? Or are the 6x200cc and 500cc less injectors and just spray nozzle?
    • Welcome! New member myself, but I had an R33 back in 2002. Best advice I could give, based on my experience: if you're running the factory turbo, be very conservative with boost. I made the mistake of just fiddling around with the boost controller and cranking the boost for fun, and the end result was my intake pipes popping off frequently from the constant deluge of oil that was being blown into the recirc by the stressed-out turbo, which itself was siphoning oil from the engine and farting it out both sides of its centre bearing (or something to that effect). If I could do it all again, I would have gotten a new turbo and had a tune dialled in professionally and then just left it alone! Funny you mention the metal shavings in the gearbox, as I had the same thing - the probe plug (magnetic drain plug, essentially) would come out caked with shavings. At least it was doing its job. Not sure if that's just sacrificial wear and part of the deal, or if my gearbox was shagged, but I wasn't abusing it. Enjoy the R33 - they're a dying breed, and if they weren't $35k+ on CarSales in Queensland, I might have picked up one of those again, instead of the 370GT I own now (though I'm loving the 370GT, that big 3.7L V6 just hits different).
    • Howdy folks. I owned an R33 back in 2002, which was thoroughly beyond my capacity (financially speaking) to maintain/insure, so we parted ways in 2004. Fast forward 21 years (to literally yesterday, in fact) and I'm now the proud owner of a 2007 V36 370GT. I'm happily surprised by how much power the VQ37VHR makes, compared to the RB25DET, considering the latter is turbocharged. I had planned to add a turbo at some point but I'm on the fence about whether I'll even need it (though I do love the sudden onset of extra torque). Any other 370GT owners around the traps, I'd love to hear about your experiences with this car (good and bad).
    • Perhaps the answer is... more jacks!* *proper jacks must be used.  
    • I NEVER think about using a scissor jack unless there is absolutely no other alternative. f**king things are dangerous, annoying and stupid.
×
×
  • Create New...