Inaccurate fuel gauge

[Kyle]

HI Guys

Been having too much stress with my E46 320i Individual, long story short, the fuel gauge is hugely inaccurate!

Its extremely erratic, the range on the OBC also varies so i never really know how much fuel I have, which left me with my hazards on at the side of the road, with a girlfriend that didn't look too impressed :fencelook:

 

[ChefDJ]

Haha sorry bro. Not cool, but I know the feeling. My Jetta was the same. Get in and it's three quarters full. 2 km's down the road and the thing jumps to empty with the light on haha. Used to watch the needle jump up and down when sitting in traffic. Eventually I could sort of work it out by the km's driven per full tank. Was too costly to repair it.

My future father-in-law has a 2001 Z3, the fuel guage works backwards :biglol:

"F" for finished and "E" for enough :roflol:

 

[AdiS]

It could be your fuel pump.. another member had something similar and it turned out to be the fuel pump. They do fail...

 

[Kyle]

Haha sorry bro. Not cool, but I know the feeling. My Jetta was the same. Get in and it's three quarters full. 2 km's down the road and the thing jumps to empty with the light on haha. Used to watch the needle jump up and down when sitting in traffic. Eventually I could sort of work it out by the km's driven per full tank. Was too costly to repair it.

My future father-in-law has a 2001 Z3, the fuel guage works backwards :biglol:

"F" for finished and "E" for enough :roflol:

:roflol:

luckily i broke down a few meters away a the garage, so I walk to the garage and ask the guys for a push, you can imagine the look on their faces when they saw what car I was driving:biglol:

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It could be your fuel pump.. another member had something similar and it turned out to be the fuel pump. They do fail...

How would this affect the fuel reading? I would look at the pump if my gauge was constant, but it drops and rises all the time :fencelook:

Plus i look at the liters that the tank takes compared to what the fuel gauge says, and theres a huge difference. Last week the guage showed half, but it took 50l ! :biglol:

 

[AdiS]

Well, as far as I know the fuel pump has a fuel level sender built in. There are also two sensors in the fuel tank. Maybe have diagnostics done and see if there are any codes. Maybe a good time to do the fuel filter as well while you're at it.

Other than that, I can't really offer more insight.

 

[Kyle]

Well, as far as I know the fuel pump has a fuel level sender built in. There are also two sensors in the fuel tank. Maybe have diagnostics done and see if there are any codes. Maybe a good time to do the fuel filter as well while you're at it.

Other than that, I can't really offer more insight.

Thanks bud, i'll be pulling the pump out this weekend and giving the sender unit a refurb, I've already replaced the fuel filter, made a huge difference

 

[Dippies]

Haha sorry bro. Not cool, but I know the feeling. My Jetta was the same. Get in and it's three quarters full. 2 km's down the road and the thing jumps to empty with the light on haha. Used to watch the needle jump up and down when sitting in traffic. Eventually I could sort of work it out by the km's driven per full tank. Was too costly to repair it.

My future father-in-law has a 2001 Z3, the fuel guage works backwards :biglol:

"F" for finished and "E" for enough :roflol:

:roflol::roflol:

 

[Jerry_112]

HI Guys

Been having too much stress with my E46 320i Individual, long story short, the fuel gauge is hugely inaccurate!

Its extremely erratic, the range on the OBC also varies so i never really know how much fuel I have, which left me with my hazards on at the side of the road, with a girlfriend that didn't look too impressed :fencelook:

Had the same problem, including loss of power...had my fuel pump replaced, problem solved :thumbs:

 

[Maveric12]

I was told to have float recalibrated...

 

[Gizmo]

Common E46 issue, new fuel pump/sender is the only way to cure it. The 330i has left me stranded a few times because of the lying gauge!!!

 

[Kyle]

Common E46 issue, new fuel pump/sender is the only way to cure it. The 330i has left me stranded a few times because of the lying gauge!!!

so is this one unit or can it be dismantled and inspected??

 

[AcidBurn]

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=738747

Holy sh*t i was searching my butt off for this link now:bangdesk:

Oh well there you have it hope this helps you:thumbs:

I did this about 2 weeks back, not to difficult if you know how to use tools:roflol::tease:

I think this is a must for all E46 owners, not sure if all the other BMW's are the same.

What i did with my sending units is super glue the circuit board in position, thus preventing it from moving down again. Not sure if the super glue is going to last on there seeing as its going to live the rest of its life in fuel.

cheers:=):

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Common E46 issue, new fuel pump/sender is the only way to cure it. The 330i has left me stranded a few times because of the lying gauge!!!

what he said if you cant fix it following my link

 

[sage]

Fit a new fuel pump, thats the only way out. Just do it.:rollsmile:

 

[Kyle]

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=738747

Holy sh*t i was searching my butt off for this link now:bangdesk:

Oh well there you have it hope this helps you:thumbs:

I did this about 2 weeks back, not to difficult if you know how to use tools:roflol::tease:

I think this is a must for all E46 owners, not sure if all the other BMW's are the same.

What i did with my sending units is super glue the circuit board in position, thus preventing it from moving down again. Not sure if the super glue is going to last on there seeing as its going to live the rest of its life in fuel.

cheers:=):

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Common E46 issue, new fuel pump/sender is the only way to cure it. The 330i has left me stranded a few times because of the lying gauge!!!

what he said if you cant fix it following my link

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Now this is what I'm talking about :bravo:

Diagnosing the problem before you go around replacing things, looks fun actually, I'm pretty handy with a set of tools, nice job for the weekend

Cheers buddy!:thumbs:

 

[Bayn46]

The contacts on the fuel level sensors are a common wear item with these cars. The contact material gets rubbed off after a while and the sensor either stops functioning, or functions erattically.

Also, this would probably be a cheaper first check than replacing the fuel pump.

 

[AcidBurn]

Now this is what I'm talking about :bravo:

Diagnosing the problem before you go around replacing things, looks fun actually, I'm pretty handy with a set of tools, nice job for the weekend

Cheers buddy!:thumbs:

this is what forums are for, helping each other:thumbs:

i did mine over a weekend took me a few hours i think like 4-5 cause i was still cleaning other bit and pieces etc etc

let us know the outcome:thumbs:

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Also, this would probably be a cheaper first check than replacing the fuel pump.

for sure, thats why i always believe in checking if something can be repaired instead of running off to buy a new unit

maybe a quick fix till you save enough madibas to buy a new one in the near future:thumbs:

 

[Kyle]

Now this is what I'm talking about :bravo:

Diagnosing the problem before you go around replacing things, looks fun actually, I'm pretty handy with a set of tools, nice job for the weekend

Cheers buddy!:thumbs:

this is what forums are for, helping each other:thumbs:

i did mine over a weekend took me a few hours i think like 4-5 cause i was still cleaning other bit and pieces etc etc

let us know the outcome:thumbs:

---

Also, this would probably be a cheaper first check than replacing the fuel pump.

for sure, thats why i always believe in checking if something can be repaired instead of running off to buy a new unit

maybe a quick fix till you save enough madibas to buy a new one in the near future:thumbs:

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I don't believe in blindly replacing things, if you can fix it why not....

At the end of the day, you learn more about how your car operates.

I've always done all my own work, even rebuilt the M10 in my E30 318i

 

[NavZ]

New fuel pump didn't solve my E46 320i's gauge problem.

 

[goraemi]

HI Guys

Been having too much stress with my E46 320i Individual, long story short, the fuel gauge is hugely inaccurate!

Its extremely erratic, the range on the OBC also varies so i never really know how much fuel I have, which left me with my hazards on at the side of the road, with a girlfriend that didn't look too impressed :fencelook:

Hi Kyle to my knowledge check your fuel level on the pumps housing , might be faulty , like fellow fanatics said , get your car plugged in to diagnose:thumbs: