fuel gauge fluctuation

[beereo]

i've noticed for the past few days that the fuel gauge of the car that i'm driving is defective. it seems to fluctuate from full to empty and back to full again while driving. i'm very worried kasi baka maubusan na lang ako ng gas sa daan without noticing it.

how will i be able to know the true fuel gauge level that my car has if this happens everyday? what repairs are needed in order to have it in good condition and how much will it cost? thank you very much in advance!

[jick.cejoco]

i've noticed for the past few days that the fuel gauge of the car that i'm driving is defective. it seems to fluctuate from full to empty and back to full again while driving. i'm very worried kasi baka maubusan na lang ako ng gas sa daan without noticing it.

how will i be able to know the true fuel gauge level that my car has if this happens everyday? what repairs are needed in order to have it in good condition and how much will it cost? thank you very much in advance!

beerio,
what is the make, model, year of manufacture and mileage of your car? most fuel gauge sending units are ground type. this could mean that the wires leading to the sending unit between the instrument cluster and the fuel tank is intermittently grounding. another possibility is that the sending unit float keeps going up and down with the sloshing of the fuel everytime you accelerate or step on the brakes. check the former first
jick

[beereo]

beerio,
what is the make, model, year of manufacture and mileage of your car?

1995 mitsubishi lancer. around 95,000

[jick.cejoco]

1995 mitsubishi lancer. around 95,000

ondoy victim?

[beereo]

ondoy victim?

oo pare. the car was totally submerged in water.

[jick.cejoco]

oo pare. the car was totally submerged in water.

wiring connectors and harnesses are still wet giving you ghost electrical problems. unplug connectors and spray them with moisture removers like WD40 and pack suspected/involved connectors with petroleum jelly (vaseline) to prevent recurrence. lancer is mirage in the u.s. right?

[beereo]

lancer is mirage in the u.s. right?

i'm not sure with respect to the american market. but as far as i know, it is called mirage in other countries.

[jick.cejoco]

i'm not sure with respect to the american market. but as far as i know, it is called mirage in other countries.

will give you the connector, wire insulation color code, and test procedure once i get to the software.

[jick.cejoco]

i'm not sure with respect to the american market. but as far as i know, it is called mirage in other countries.

beerio,
there is a connector D11 with a yellow insulated wire at the left rear passenger foot well adjacent to and in front of the floor riser the rear seat is sitting on. the wire insulation to the fuel gauge sending unit are yellow and the ground side is black. disconnect the D11 connector and the conncetor to the instrument panel B12 or disconnect all connectors to the I/P to check if this yellow sending unit wire is grounded
jick

[david09]

Mirage hatch back 2013 automatic. Nagpafull tank ako tapos nagbyahe ako almost 60km and nagtaka ako pagdating ko sa bahay hindi nabawasan yung bar ng gasulina? Sira ba ito? Kasi before ako magpakarga ng gasulina half then nagfull naman yung guage. And now hindi pa din bumababa yung gauge.

[baludoy]

^ baka na stuck iyong gas tank fuel level float.

There's Only one way to be sure - just have it checked.

do what you gotta do so you can do what you wanna do

[oj88]

Maybe you achieved a very high fuel economy during the trip. 60km will only cost you maybe about 3 liters or so of fuel (around 20km/L) driving a Mirage at continuous highway speeds.

[dr. d]

Mirage hatch back 2013 automatic. Nagpafull tank ako tapos nagbyahe ako almost 60km and nagtaka ako pagdating ko sa bahay hindi nabawasan yung bar ng gasulina? Sira ba ito? Kasi before ako magpakarga ng gasulina half then nagfull naman yung guage. And now hindi pa din bumababa yung gauge.

i don't mirage, but
if you filled it to the brim of the filler tube, or beyond your tank's capacity, it may take some driving, for the fuel tank float / sensor, to float down low enough so as to make a difference in your fuel gauge.
you over-filled, po, and you will have to use up more fuel for the gauge to move.

start worrying, if you had already driven 200 km and the gauge hasn't moved, yet.
heh heh.

[sp00nman]

i don't mirage, but
if you filled it to the brim of the filler tube, or beyond your tank's capacity, it may take some driving, for the fuel tank float / sensor, to float down low enough so as to make a difference in your fuel gauge.
you over-filled, po, and you will have to use up more fuel for the gauge to move.

start worrying, if you had already driven 200 km and the gauge hasn't moved, yet.
heh heh.

Pag sa Total naman ako nag fill ng 200-300 it would take 5km+/- bago gumalaw sa gauge..

[dr. d]

when filling to overflow at the brim, that's, to my very rough estimate, about 2-3 liters of fuel over the fuel tank's maximum load, depending on each car model's length and diameter of filler tube.
the engine has to consume those 2-3 liters, before that fuel level sensor can notice a difference.
at 15-20 km/li, that's up to 60 km of travel, before the gauge can begin registering any change in fuel level.

also, there's the sensitivity of the fuel gauge to changes in fuel level.
i like the old analog, needle fuel gauges. even small changes in fuel level may be seen.
some of today's digital fuel gauges show bars only.
in my wigo, a bar is about 2.5-3.0 liters or 25-30 km worth of travel. i have to travel 25-30 km, before a bar disappears.

in some cars, there is the "km range" read-out. i don't use it, as it only confuses me.
heh heh.

[dr. d]

i have problem.
i had my 2005 D4d innova's aircons cleaned, both rear and front.
the dash instruments were necessarily pulled out, the electrical connections pulled off.
my rear connections to the fuel gauge sending unit were also detached.
when the mechanics put everything back together, my gas gauge needle didn't go up to the before-detaching level.
in fact, the needle seemed to be registering much less than what i am used to. even when i filled up with fuel, the readings are significantly less than what i used to expect these last 13 years.
everything else was fine.
any ideas on how i can get my old needle readings back?