Fuel gauge all over the show

[VZ1CAR59]

Recently picked up the 'one'. Cycled through a couple beaten up old commys till I find this beauty that I'm gonna keep. Impulse blue vz SV6 straight inside and out with under 60k kms on it. 100% certain their has not been any cluster tampering plenty of evidence.

Anyway couple of questions hoping someone could help me out with. Fuel gauge works great from full till about 1/4 of a tank left. When under 1/4, it starts to flicker between empty empty on the gauge with under 10kms to go readings on dash+ low fuel warning. 20 seconds later will go back up to 1/4 of a tank. This just continues. drove it like this for a day or so and gave it some **** went to fill up and got 60 litres in. So I'm thinking the measure is probably accurate up until the quarter mark. Not a big issue but just wondering if anyone has any ideas about it and could send me in the right direction with cost or diy. I guess the obvious shout is fuel sender. Bit of extra info that might have caused it, car drove under 500kms in 5 years so same fuel was sitting their all that time.

Second question, anyone know any insurance that will give me what this car is worth. Currently with Shannon's as they were only ones who even give reasonable price. Pain in the butt that regular insurers don't even consider condition and kms.

Thanks all

 

[J_D 2.0]

Recently picked up the 'one'. Cycled through a couple beaten up old commys till I find this beauty that I'm gonna keep. Impulse blue vz SV6 straight inside and out with under 60k kms on it. 100% certain their has not been any cluster tampering plenty of evidence.

Anyway couple of questions hoping someone could help me out with. Fuel gauge works great from full till about 1/4 of a tank left. When under 1/4, it starts to flicker between empty empty on the gauge with under 10kms to go readings on dash+ low fuel warning. 20 seconds later will go back up to 1/4 of a tank. This just continues. drove it like this for a day or so and gave it some **** went to fill up and got 60 litres in. So I'm thinking the measure is probably accurate up until the quarter mark. Not a big issue but just wondering if anyone has any ideas about it and could send me in the right direction with cost or diy. I guess the obvious shout is fuel sender. Bit of extra info that might have caused it, car drove under 500kms in 5 years so same fuel was sitting their all that time.

Second question, anyone know any insurance that will give me what this car is worth. Currently with Shannon's as they were only ones who even give reasonable price. Pain in the butt that regular insurers don't even consider condition and kms.

Thanks all

If it’s had the same fuel sitting in it for 5 years it will probably have gunk built up on the resistance wiper in the sender. I had a similar issue with my VE SV6 a while ago but the opposite way around. I used to only fill it up about half way for years as I only drove short distances.

When I needed to go on a long drive and actually filled it all the way up the gauge would intermittently drop out on the way back down, presumably there was dried gunk or corrosion on the resistor that would drop out the connection. After a few fill ups and running it back down to a quarter tank it stopped doing it and worked fine again.

I‘d suggest putting premium fuel in to clear out some of the gunk and increase the octane rating (if you haven’t turned over all the old fuel yet). I would say run it below a quarter a few times to wipe the resistor but I can’t recommend ever running a fuel injected vehicle with an in tank fuel pump below a quarter of a tank as it’s not good for the longevity of the fuel pump.

 

[harrop.senator]

Or a new Delphi drop in module, pump and reader is around $200. I have one in the house I haven't fitted yet , so I know the price is current

 

[VZ1CAR59]

Thanks fellas. Yep got some 98 in there now will give it a few weeks (or until I lose patience) to try sort itself out and then will start replacing/repairing. Will update once resolved

 

[Phillbert]

Second question, anyone know any insurance that will give me what this car is worth. Currently with Shannon's as they were only ones who even give reasonable price. Pain in the butt that regular insurers don't even consider condition and kms.

I have a VZ SV6, was insured with SunCorp for $7600 for the past 3 years until last year when they dropped it to $3400
Now i don't bother with it as the cost of it is more than it's worth to me.
Lost over half the value but same insurance cost

I'm also having issues the same with fuel gauge so following with interest...

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

The fuel sender unit is fully serviceable, and there is an excellent thread about it. It could be the reader or one of the connections, cause I read other people had problems. But I have fixed quite a few sender units, and in all cases it was the filter inside the sender unit that was the problem.

The original and even brand new Delphi ones have a problematic filter that constricts when it folds to fit inside the sender unit, meaning that the pump is always sucking fuel from only a tiny portion of it, and not the whole filter length. It makes the pump work incorrectly, and for whatever reason affects the fuel gauge reading.

You can pull that filter out and clean it really easily, and the problem will be resolved. Takes about 30 minutes.

But it is hard to perfectly clean out the whole fuel tank in an old VZ. With the folded filter, even the tiniest bit of dirt in the tank quickly blocks the bit of filter the pump is using, causing the problem to come back.

The trick to making it go away forever is to put a Toyota/universal fuel filter on there like this one. It has a different design that doesn't constrict when it folds.

I bought a brand new Delphi fuel sender unit for my own car from Australia, and it drove me crazy having to pull it out again all the time to clean the filter. Like, I scrubbed the tank clean as a whistle, but either it is hard to properly clean the tank, or the ubiquitous dust here keeps getting into the tank, or even the fluff off the filter itself blocks the small part inside the fold all the time.

So I got this ancient sender unit out of an old car I found in the desert which had a reader in it, and I bought a new regulator, Toyota pump and filter pus the couple of hoses you hook up to the pump and regulator for $50 to rebuild it. I thought I would just use this in the meantime while I dealt with the new one, but I never had the problem again since.

In other people's cars I just swapped the filter over, didn't even bother changing any other parts or cleaning the tank out much except for a quick swirl and wipe inside, and solved it for them like that. My bloody expensive sender unit is still sitting in the cupboard unused.

The filters cost $1 from China.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/fuel-filter-for-toyota-fuel-pump_60392135551.html

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

See the GM ones are like this, and as soon as you bend them to go in the fuel sender unit those three bars slot in under that other bar there to perfectly pinch off the fuel flow from the majority of the filter. There's no avoiding it. I am fixing another one for a guy today.

 

[VZ1CAR59]

hey mate. sounds interesting i appreciate the advice. Have some time off few weeks from now will have a crack at it. Could you give me a quick run down of what I'm doing and any issues i may face? also where do you buy them from? minimum order on that link of 100 pcs

 

[wannaeatyourbrains]

I just do it quick and dirty out in the parking lot. Siphon all the fuel out of your tank.

Wriggle in under the tank. on your back. Unplug the fuel filter, a bit of fuel is gonna spray so look out.

The trick to the quick release is scrub around the lip first with a toothbrush and soapy water to clean under there real good. Then push the pipe on further while you wriggle. Bit more soapy water after it pushes on to wash the dislodged dirt out, bit more twisting.. Then put your finger and thumb exactly on the push tabs, depress them, and pull back straight.

You can't depress them till you have pushed it on more from where it is, so don't even try. Also, if you don't pull back exactly straight a) it won't come off, and b) you will bust the 3-way on the fuel filter and the plastic spouts on the fuel sender unit when you come to them. So be careful. It is all about cleanliness and technique.

Unplug the electric cable you see up there which has the wires for the reader and the fuel pump. Undo the one bolt holding the fuel tank strap that is there as well, with the wire going to it.

Put your jack and a bit of wood under the tank and hold it up.

Undo the two bolts holding the other straps in at the back.

Drop the tank down.

Now undo the quick release for the purge line from the fuel sender spout. It is gonna be under pressure from being bent, so mind what I said about pulling straight. Take the pressure off before you do the pushing and pulling.

If you do snap it, cause they get old and cracked, don't wig out. You can drill out the broken ends some, wind a bit of cleaned up VB can around a nail a couple of times with superglue to make a hollow insert, and glue it back together with that. But try not to, cause with due care you won't.

Pull the tank out.

Then there is a metal lock ring around the fuel sender unit. Knock at the teeth on that with a socket extension, it just spins to unlock.

Then you can pull the fuel sender unit out. Tilt to clear the float.

Tip the petty out. Carefully unclip the float and pull the float off. Like push at the clip with your thumbnail while you pull the float rod a bit.

You have to pull the regulator housing out. It is just jammed in there, so after you pry the lock back, wiggle, twist, pry, pull. Don't try and disconnect any hoses inside the sender unit. It is not necessary, and that ain't happening.

Get a couple of smallish Stanley screwdrivers. You gotta pry the tab up off the lock on the side of the swirl tank on one side while you use the other screwdriver to pry the swirl tank downwards off the lip of the mating surface a tad. That plastic is surprisingly flexible, so don't worry too much. It will move just a millimetre or two.

Then do the same over the other side.

Then go back to the first side, maybe with a bigger screwdriver if necessary. After you push it down a bit both sides the swirl tank eventually just easy comes off.

Be mindful of the reader while you are working cause it is so easy to break if you grab it by accident.

Now you can see the filter. There are two plastic tabs to depress. You also have to pry it off the bottom of the pump itself.

Press your new one on there. It doesn't have the special plastic clip but don't worry about that.

Sorry about the link. Try this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33006265572.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.5.290e35c2TXm0dg&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.33416.213724.0&scm_id=1007.33416.213724.0&scm-url=1007.33416.213724.0&pvid=8f58e18c-afa2-4a9b-8b97-098609133d38&_t=gps-idcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.33416.213724.0,pvid:8f58e18c-afa2-4a9b-8b97-098609133d38,tpp_buckets:668#0#223416#2_668#888#3325#9_23416#0#213724#0_23416#4721#21967#654_23416#4722#21972#4_668#2846#8111#1996_668#5811#27189#88_668#2717#7561#334_668#1000022185#1000066058#0_668#3422#15392#462_4452#0#226710#0_4452#3474#16498#515_4452#4862#24463#286_4452#3098#9599#314_4452#5108#23442#918_4452#3564#16062#143

You can message those girls in the stores on AliExpress and they will help you out. Sell you whatever you want, one piece or whatever. I love talking to those friendly lasses, it makes shopping such a pleasure. Just go to their shop, and click Contact Seller.

I can see them on Ebay, considerably more expensive:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/381317517540?fits=Model:Camry&_trkparms=ispr=1&hash=item58c84b90e4:g:KeMAAOSwcwlfsGUo&amdata=enc:AQAFAAACgBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickkxFtV7J5P58ubuVigtBH%2Fe2bUPlQSkePzUIdHJ3iL6a9mXMieMzPT7zH4q8U8zsx6ijswlPBfAocJBMf%2FFF9M4Zv%2BEFDt5tyud9o9ix69H0angQembVwIvifd5uHgwzysCzLL2F0wbLpDE4%2BYIY1rl2BXJ1Drf2uV59LCzGzMJ22UVdBpeDLf%2FfcaIwJFmkyh7t0M2ypc%2FV90Rqwdrgwe9FdEsmSCMFPyeBa3K6ltvWNFlyGyoVuSPw8c5Fu8T2gc2zPADzSKNa3THsN9wqSJmZ1ZAjcWVl7FDZLcZiO1mla6Ysm3%2BWmdjienhv2%2B6nw1Oo3KKNy%2FhWBYmB%2FxfkAg%2B6j%2By9sS0HXxTMJpzEk1eIv66xuhTRHJNvWjXf3Ozrf4xzX0Lj67Z08YtPhMHM4b%2Bo%2FjaFaWhNtjpA79JrTHZYH%2BHvFWqOtBpfAhO1NMBEve6xEEqbhFSiNHfJBrUCR4IgpQMa1uFTzaZLcJjjoCiMt258%2Fw6qgitNj%2BU17HOUa%2BWIyVnU6x171%2BbrGsZb7nStp3d6OwbqWc6fh6FJzp8AitXJY%2BRESgN%2FjsuuitigKzUutQHOP0v5KP%2B2vfLPOCIeod7vu%2Ba1%2FH5ix0JTTzS3axftWE7fSXBRHu1wvid9rPcnatd2%2BGcJzhGnzvT91E16YVaTD42%2FEN8YYVsGgKEzsd8w%2BCQyUi%2BLHs0YHeQWQAA7HQZprQvgxdMqjt7MPKZArKmBUk3X9eFQoAsLCEm%2Bh3n825atTK5CVmuhx2uaGqp9GFSKum4JXALrj%2Fxr5VVKA8CsMdMCdGzIknISox9TI%3D|cksum:3813175175404b27fbfc6217499db2992457dc1e1d11|ampidL_CLK|clp:2334524

Most Toyotas and a lot of other cars use them, so maybe just try a Toyota parts store.

 

[VZ1CAR59]

Apologies for the dumb question. I am no expert with cars. I'm with you most of the way. I am comfy with getting the fuel tank out (im sure ill have issues but thats part of the proccess lol) and what it is im replacing. I am familiar with major components of the vehicle but not so much the nitty gritties.

The regulator housing is the arm that comes out?
Could you clarify what the float and the swirl tank is?

I have put a pic of the assembly up for reference.

I really appreciate your help. Going to order the filter tonight hopefully its here by the time I get some time off. Looking forward to have a crack at it