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Petrol Tank Full gauge Showing 3/4?

two-bit

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last week i had to replace my fuel pump, due to contamination of dirt etc.
a friend did it for me, dropped the tank out of the car took our time not to snag lines etc.

now the tank is full to the brim, but the petrol gauge is only showing 3/4 sits perfectly on the line. but when i park the car with the nose down it slowly climbs above that to just under full. also the distance to empty is 440km instead of the 550km when full.

could of we snagged/bent something or is the sender unit not sitting right?
 

two-bit

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ah dam it. drop the tank again.

so if the float is bent i guess it a case of trail and error to get it reading right again?
 

Pollushon

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You don't need to drop the tank mate, way over kill. It's something to look at, I'm not saying that's it, just probable. Might be worthwhile grabbing another sender from the wreckers, its not the sort of trial and error I'd recommend.
 

Brett_jjj

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Ive seen this happen before when the pump gets replaced, and as mentioned above, the float arm gets bent when removing/replacing the fuel pump/float assembly.. Ive just bent the float arm slightly to make it read correctly again. Bend the arm up to make the gauge read lower and bent the arm down to make it read higher. If its getting stuck at 3/4 though when the tanks full, either the float itself or the float arm is probably getting hung up on something, probably from being bent out of its original position.
 

BlackVXGTS

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Only need to remove the fuel tank to replace the fuel pump on ute models.
 

sk2304

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So would anyone have an idea with the float that when I turn left it goes full and more and right down to empty? Not all the time settles when tank half. My mechanic (more likely apprentice) changed the fuel pump and it has been doing it since. I've had the car back but I don't think they did anything. Was there for pink slip and fix but still doing it. Mechanic is friend of the family so I think he doesn't want to do it and he won't get cash.

I was going to attack it myself but I was wondering if I should get a replacement float and arm to have ready.
 

Brett_jjj

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So would anyone have an idea with the float that when I turn left it goes full and more and right down to empty? Not all the time settles when tank half. My mechanic (more likely apprentice) changed the fuel pump and it has been doing it since. I've had the car back but I don't think they did anything. Was there for pink slip and fix but still doing it. Mechanic is friend of the family so I think he doesn't want to do it and he won't get cash.

I was going to attack it myself but I was wondering if I should get a replacement float and arm to have ready.

Just pull it back out and check that the float arm doesnt get snagged on anything as it moves up and down, and carefully bend it if its been bent at all during the installation. Have look at the pics in the link below, I took them a while back to help people get an idea of how the pump assembly fits into the swirl pot, and how the return hose fits etc etc.. Ive done quite a few fuel pump changes on these cars, and its always a bugger getting the float arm in without bending it out of place. You just gotta take your time with it and do it carefully.

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/vr-vs-holden-commodore-1993-1997/135749-fuel-tank-fuel-pump-assembly-swirl-pot.html
 
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