'fuel gage error' displayed, ute wont start

[mickey007]

Hi everyone,

I have just purchased a 2005 VZ S Holden Ute from an auction house, it has been sitting around for some time as they usually do so ran out of fuel as well as battery.
I put 17 litres of fuel in it and a jump start but no luck so far but lights work.
It displays 'FUEL GAGE ERROR CONTACT DEALER' on the dash.

Please help if you have any suggestions of what I can try next.

Mick

[88GreenVN]

Sounds like a trip to Holdens for a tech 2 program scan.

[BANKS]

Does it turn over?

Can you hear the fuel pump prime?

[mickey007]

I put another 25 litres of petrol in the last 1 litre overflowed so the tank is full. I had a auto electrician come out and have a look, he checked for any codes there was none but he cleared the codes anyway, he then checked the start relay, he changed the start relay with a second hand one he had in his van and managed to get it started, it was running rough, like missing some cylinders or bad fuel or bad spark plugs. The fuel gauge was showing as full. I took it for a drive for 10 kilometers it running ok sometimes and sometimes it was running rough, it stalled once, as it stalled the temerated gauge went up high near the red, I restarted it and got it home. I parked it, ten minutes later I tried to start it again and again it does not turn over and the dash says "fuel gauge error contact dealer".

My apologies BANKS, I cannot hear anything, what do I listen out for?

Please help???

[mickey007]

I got the car towed to a mechanic, he reckons the ECU needs replacing. What are your thoughts on this? What made the ECU go in the first place? Will it need anything else after this?

[88GreenVN]

Hard to say what has gone wrong. Sounds like it has had an electrical melt down at some point - so it can be 1 bit or all the electrical bits - one after another. No way to tell. ECU is a good place to start.

The wreckers maybe your friend.. They may test a few things for you if they offer fitting service and have the parts in stock.

[policehoon]

Could be that the old fuel just gummed up. When fuel sits for awhile it tends to gum up the fuel components. Could just need the fuel rail to sit in a bath for a while to get rid of the gum deposits.

It happened to me when I was just using LPG all the time, When it come time to use the fuel system the car did not run very well

[andyman]

I got the car towed to a mechanic, he reckons the ECU needs replacing. What are your thoughts on this? What made the ECU go in the first place? Will it need anything else after this?

considering the the fuel guage isnt monitored by the ecm, id be wary of that,

has he tried getting any fault codes out of it with a scan tool?

[mickey007]

Yes, he tried the fault codes, he even got another auto electrician to run the scan tool.
What do I do?

[andyman]

Yes, he tried the fault codes, he even got another auto electrician to run the scan tool.
What do I do?

hmm so the tank was bone dry?

how much is in the tank now do you think?

[TrEnNaVY]

he said its full

[andyman]

he said its full

ah missed that,


dont suppose he checked fuel pressure?

[General Lee]

Hi everyone,

I have just purchased a 2005 VZ S Holden Ute from an auction house, it has been sitting around for some time as they usually do so ran out of fuel as well as battery.
I put 17 litres of fuel in it and a jump start but no luck so far but lights work.
It displays 'FUEL GAGE ERROR CONTACT DEALER' on the dash.

Please help if you have any suggestions of what I can try next.

Mick

Just wondering how you got on with this Mick?

Ive got a VZ here at the moment thats done the same thing. Had fuel in it and running fine.
Jumped in the next morning and wont turn over, and displaying fuel gauge error.

[impulsive]

i had this problem once, found that the fuel pick up wasnt getting any fuel.. it was parked on an incline with hardlyu any fuel in it, i put fuel in it (30 litres) tried starting it same error, left it for a while, tried, same thing removed the relay for the started motor (i think, it was a long time ago..) as it turns out i bypassed the relay and got it ticking over enough for the fuel pickup to do its job properly and left the car idling..

Also be aware i am led to belive it may be a problem with your key not sending the right signal to the ECU, so check that out..

i have never had the problem since, but let us know..

[General Lee]

Thanks impulsive.

It is parked on a slight incline, but i figured if it thought it was out of fuel it would say so, rather than tell me fuel gauge error.

I'll go try the way you got yours going this arvo... Fingers crossed!

[impulsive]

how did it go for ya?

[General Lee]

All sorted now, and many thanks to impulsive for your suggestions, and to bigdaddycool for showing me the fix.

Its just a computer glitch of some sort i spose.

Anyways, rip out the starter relay, turn key on, bridge terminals 30 and 87 (not 30 and 86 as mentioned in another thread, 86 is part of the switch), car fires up, whack relay back in and all is good.
Guage comes good, and car fires up afterwards using the key as normal.

Cheers.

[bigdaddycool]

this isn't actually a fix Sam, all it does it temporarily get you going........... your car may/may not do this again.

It's just a way of getting it going.... you'll probably find this will happen again down the track, hence why we are looking what the 'real' cause of this issue is.

Once either me and my dad or someone else finds the actual problem we'll post it up.

But yea, the starter relay gets u going............. it's a handy thing to know incase one day it doesn't start n ur stuck somewhere..........

** Either way still gotta get to the bottom of the true problem that causes this.

[impulsive]

good to know that it is all sorted, i didnt know how to explain it, but bridging the relays sounds right!

[General Lee]

I realise this hasnt solved the cause of the problem, and it is likely to do it again, but it got the damn thing out of my driveway!

Good luck with your search for the culprit... If i find out any more about it i'll post in here.

[bigdaddycool]

Got a feeling it's something to do with the starter relay..... dispite replacing it, on the ECU if theres an issue it activates the immobiliser....... so i've disabled the function, we unfortunately have to wait 3-4 days to test this theory as it takes a few days for our 05 VZ to 'not start' again. If we start it everyday it starts........ so i'll let you know towards the weekend if it starts.

If it does, it means really the only way to fix it is to disable the Start Relay registering a Driveability Fault (non-emissions related) in the ECU. For that you need VCM Suite or some other tuning software that allows it.

If this turns out to be the case, you'd have to take it to a tuner and get them to switch this off..... no idea what they'd charge but we'll see how we go....... hopefully this is the cause, it's the final thing we can think off in the computer that could be doing it.

We've changed the relay, but who knows......... alot of older commodores have this issue, so it seems like something as vague as this.

[General Lee]

^^Fingers crossed...

It sounds like you've been through pretty much everything anyway, but if it helps eliminate anything i drove the car into the shed yesterday, left it unlocked all day and it wouldnt start later on. I cant remember if i left the keys in the ignition or not, but i didnt lock it.

[bigdaddycool]

Well our 05 VZ started today after 3 days of sitting around........... it would seem the most likely cause is the starter relay.

We replaced ours, but it didn't fix it....... you could guarentee it would never start after 3 days of sitting around and today it did after I disabled the Starter Relay from registering a Driveability Fault (non-emissions related) which sets off the immobiliser and gives the fuel guage message etc.

God only knows why, but I'd say the electricals play up for them after a few years in certain commodores. Maybe a solinoid, the start, wiring, earthing who knows......... either way it causes an issue which immobilises the car.

So......... until I see otherwise.

Fuel Guage Error = Starter Relay fault.
FIX: Find it....... or disable the Starter Relay from registering a Driveability Fault (non-emissions related) fault in the ECU.

VCM Suite > Engine Diag > DTC's......... Look down the list you'll find it.

[fergie_vs]

Can someone please please take the time to email me at fergie_tomorrows-downfall@hotmail.com with a quick guide on how to start a thread? Thankyou

[bigdaddycool]

PS. To explain.

The Starter Relay registers a Driveability Fault (non-emissions related), which immobilises the car which cuts fuel. This is what produces the Fuel Guage Error that most mistake for the Fuel Sender playing up etc and needing to be 'recalibrated'.