02-05 Fuel level - favour please (BMW derived cars) | |
I had a problem this weekend with my fuel gauge. I noted others have experienced this but didn't see a definitive solution and am currently trying to work out if I need to replace the sender.
Filled the tank to the pay at pump limit which was also close to full in the car, but not quite. When I started the car I got only slightly below a half tank reading on the gauge. When I fired up the diagnostic in the MID as per the wiki it reported 0 / 37.5 / 37.5 i.e. left hand tank sensor was reporting zero litres. At some point before that I did a reset by disconnecting the battery which ultimately resulted in a zero gauge reading and fuel light on.
Looking at RAVE, the system shows zero on the gauge if it can't work out how much fuel it has left. There are three strategies it uses which is reported by the PHASE reading (second step on the fuel display). In my case it was reporting PHASE 2 which means it is trying to use injector pulses to monitor the fuel level (but seemingly failing in my case). PHASE 1 means working. Can't remember the PHASE 3 description.
Got in the car tonight and didn't look straight away but some way down the road I noticed I had a working gauge again. When I got the chance I put the diagnostic on again and it is now reporting 50.0 / 33.5 / 83.5 L PHASE 1. So it thinks it has a good reading again.
What surprises me is that the two readings aren't equal. I'd have expected the two sides of the tank to automatically balance. So on to my request: Could someone else please enable their fuel level diagnostic, preferably with a nearly full tank but any will help, and tell me their readings. I think the LH sender is basically knackered but want to verify someone elses readings against mine. Procedure is in the wiki - it is test number 6.
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