[Nick Gibson]

Hi Guys.

I did a search and nothing came up similar to my problem, so here goes:

Ran into a problem on the way home from elgin/grabouw yesterday; the engine died on me on the N2 direction Cape town near the macassar turn-off, fuel gauge indicated between half and red, the reserve light light was not even on - when it comes on the the tank normally takes 70 odd liters so I know I have a 22 litre reserve. Went onto the forum and searched, thought it might be the fuel pump in the tank, but though I should start with the basics, get more petrol!

Luckily a freind was following me and brought 25 liters of petrol and we poured that in, the engine started. I went straight to the N2 shell ultra city and filled up, took 67 liters. So 25 + 67 = 92 liters that the tank takes.

Any ideas as to why the gsuge is not showing the amount of fuel in the tank anymnore ??

[Davidvan]

Hi Nick,

In a previous post, you posted some damage to your mudflaps, and mentioned you hit the under carriage, it may be possible you have dented your tank which may cause this issue. The tanks only has a plastic cover that will bounce back and look ok, but the tank could have a nasty ding. The signs when my petrol pump went was that under strain (not hiway driving) it would splutter and die. If left for 30 min, it would be fine again until next time.

Hope that helps a little. On a different note replaced the pump with a Bosch, fuel consumption increased from 15 to 19l per 100km, and busy getting that checked out.

Cheers

David

[Nick Gibson]

Hi David.

I thought the same yesterday, as I did bump my fuel tank going over a rock. I will have to remove the plastic cover to see how bad the damage is, the only consolation so far is that it still took 92 liters to fill the tank. I will also check the connections to the fuel sensor in the tank, maybe a faulty earth connection. I have noticed (only once) the temp gauge fluctuation problem noted elsewhere in the forum, apparently it is the PC board behind the dash that has a bad solder connection somewhere, maybe that is something to look at as well - might be a contributing factor to my fuel gauge not working.

On another note, my car sometimes stalls at a stop street or traffic light, maybe 4 times in total during the time I have had it(10 months); which is strange as I have an auto. I thought it might be the idle control valve as SimonB posted previously which was giving him problems when stopping.

[Davidvan]

Hi Nick,

I have had the faulty temp gauge as well, it didn't affect my fuel gauge though, but I have read that in some cases it does affect the gauge. I have also read (not tested as my board was sent off and never seen again) that a person with soldering expereince can simply re-solder the points and will address the small green board behind the instrument cluster issue.

When my fuel pump went, it never stalled at stop streets, it did die on me though on very hot days and working the Paj a little. It never re-started immediately though, had to have a cold beer first, so if your starts right away again, that is a different symptom, at least to mine.

Hope the tank is not dented though, that can be a pain.

PS, has anybody got a tank protector plate, only item that I am not protecting underneath at this stage.

Cheers

David