petrol gauge or tank issues on VS

[wombi]

hi all, not sure if I am in the right place for this but having an issue with my sons vs commy. He has only owned it a few months and has only put small amounts in the fuel tank but yesterday for the first time he filled it. or so he thought. He put 45 litres on top of what he had left in it and that took the gauge to between full and the next mark. Today after only driving approx 100 k's the tank has dropped to half very quickly. I have looked under the car for any signs of leaks in the tank but there was no sign of any moisture. Can anyone tell me how to work out if it is a leaking tank or maybe just the gauge acting up? Also thought it may be the sensor in the tank. Would appreciate any help. thanks

 

[VR38]

Does he have a; a heavy foot?, b; does the car have a black exhaust pipe? and c; has the car had a complete service history?

 

[two-bit]

work out your fuel economy next time he fills up then go from there, should be about 12l per hundred, if its excessive 15l plus per 100km tell him to drive with a lighter foot. my gauge is faulty although i do have a full tank it will bounce from full to under full and once i get to under a half a tank it just decides to not work even with the old smacking the dash technique

 

[wombi]

Does he have a; a heavy foot?, b; does the car have a black exhaust pipe? and c; has the car had a complete service history?

thanks for replying, he assures me he doesn't have a heavy foot but he is 17 and only had his p's for a month. the car has a silver exhaust pipe and the service history we don't know about. Thats 1 thing we are wondering if maybe it just needs a good service. This is the first time he has put a large amount of fuel in it, normally he just puts $20 in at a time. I completely filled it today and we are starting a process of elimination. Will see how its going after he does a few k's then if its still not running to expectations.,will get it serviced.

 

[wombi]

thanks for that, yes that it was we are going to do, I completely filled it today and will see how the k's are in a few days. if not it may just need a service. thanks for your help

 

[VS Berlina 95]

i had a similar problem with my VS, found out i had a fuel slight fuel leak, 1 of the hoses that connects to the top of the tank had snapped, fuel gauge read empty but when i changed over the tank (i didnt notice the snapped hose) there was still approxamatly 20lts in there, hope this helps

 

[vscom88]

if the guage reads empty you need to replace your sender unit

 

[Dylan_11]

also puut a bottle of injector clearner through it. i did an worked alot better but yes 17+ps= heavy foot lol

 

[Cpt Awesome]

I had similar issues with my vs commies, I pulled out the fuel pump and sender unit (which is attached to fuel pump when you pull it out) and cleaned the contacts on the sender unit with a fibre glass brush, and bent the float swing arm contact a bit more to apply more pressure on the little circuit board contacts. After doing that and putting all back in she worked like a dream. Also if you use a fibre glass brush, be very careful as you don't want to get any splinters (they can get into your veins and cause issues anywhere in your body) so use gloves and wet them so the broken pieces of fibre glass don't float away and get inhaled or splinter you later on!