Fuel gauge??

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Cab-ova pete
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Fuel gauge??

Post by Cab-ova pete » Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:42 pm

Hi all, my gauge was reading just under half full so I went and put some in and got to £14 and it was pouring out the filling hole?? I paid for my fuel and drove off, waiting for gauge to go up and it went up to half, I drove about 5 miles and saw it was at three quarters full?? So I drove back home and is now reading half full again. Could the tank possibly be full?
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by bongoroy63 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:54 pm

This a common fault with Bongos. There is an issue with the Earth on the fuel tank. I had it with mine. Simple solution, is you need to fix an earth wire from the tank to the frame underneath. If you search on the forum you will find that someone would already have put a ' how to do '. Takes less than 10 minutes to do. There are kits you can buy but a simple piece of wire will suffice.
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Northern Bongolow
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by Northern Bongolow » Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:01 pm

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... 7451,d.d24

or get jump lead, scratch off the paint and earth the tank, watch the gauge as the gauge is damped so takes a while to read accurate, the gauge will also continue to read even when the engine/ignition is off, it requires voltage to move.
Cab-ova pete
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by Cab-ova pete » Sat Apr 04, 2015 9:21 pm

Thanks for your replies! Greatl appreciated
Cab-ova pete
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by Cab-ova pete » Tue Apr 07, 2015 7:16 pm

Hi all again, I have earthed the tank to the chassis but fuel gauge still not working properly? One minute it reads over a quarter tank and up and down a couple of hills it reads NO fuel? The panick is irritating my pocket :cry: #-o is there anything else I can try? Not too techie :)
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mikeWalsall
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by mikeWalsall » Tue Apr 07, 2015 7:57 pm

As the gauge is working that at least shows you have continuity from the tank to the gauge (i: the wire is not broken) ..

if you have got an 100% good earth connection from the sender unit to the chassis and there is not a lose / bad connection to the gauge causing fluctuations then ..maybe .. the sender unit in the tank .. of a faulty gauge 'dial' ..??

Do you have a low fuel light .. some do .. some don't (mine as) ..

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Simon Jones
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by Simon Jones » Tue Apr 07, 2015 9:02 pm

You don't mention if it's diesel or petrol. It's the latter they don't tend to suffer the earthing problem as the wiring is different for the fuel pump.
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by Cab-ova pete » Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:20 pm

Hi soz about lack of info! It is a 2.5 diesel 97, with no warning light. I wire brushed the two holes I've used, on lip of tank (factory drilled hole and the same on chassis,used nuts/bolts, good strong cable. I'm gutted really, I was hoping it worked, I've removed an old fence post in the middle of a run and replaced with new after undoing both panels with screwheads just falling off when you touch them?? What a day! All done, then cut some grass for someone else, I'm supposed to be on holiday? and then finally to top it off we went to view a camp site in the countryside, a lovely little spot, hopefully get down there at the weekend after I've solved this fuel gauge issue? Thanks for your help
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by Gasy » Wed Apr 08, 2015 6:55 am

Just reset your trip meter when you fill up

Check the earth strap for continuity

Be leave you can access the sender through the floor in the rear of bongo ( there is a panel you can remove ) then you can get at the fuel gauge unit to replace / repair
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Re: Fuel gauge??

Post by cmm303 » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:58 am

The access panel is in floor behind driver's seat a little way back. If you can get to this (conversions/posh flooring may prevent access) you can get directly to the sender connector block on top of the fuel tank and test the FULL condition (short circuit in place of sender unit). You can also directly earth it. The gauge is heavily damped so takes an age to respond and needs the ignition on. I followed the excellent fact sheet in the members area.
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