Recalibrate fuel gauge...?!?!?

[pbrettle]

Anyone,

Owning an early Chimaera I have one of those dodgy fuel gauge / sender units that varies from full to 1/2 empty depending on the corner / straight / acceleration factor. In fact I can do around 150 - 180 miles on full, then another 70 for the rest of the gauge.... not really that funny...

I was just wondering if there is something that I can do to recalibrate the sender / gauge so that it is a little more reasonable. If so how? Dont fancy the idea of messing around with a fuel tank full or empty to get the sender / gauge working correctly....

Ideas and comments welcome....

Cheers,

Paul

[ATG]

As I understand it, the sender is a variable resistor controlled by an arm with a float on the end ... bit like a ballcock in a toilet's cistern. If this arm doesn't have enough travel, i.e. gets to its "full" position way before the tank is full, then recalibrating the gauge won't do you any good. You'll have to sort out the sender. It's possible to bend the arm in order to raise or lower the float. I've seen a sender that was salvaged from a knackered Chim. I doubt the bloke had bothered to dismantled the tank to get at it, so there must be some kind of sealed hole through which the arm enters the tank, or something similar.

[apache]

it's still a dodgy thing working on an open tank, the fumes linger forever and the chance of everything going pete tong just aint worth it.....what I do, and a lot of others it seems, is to fill to the brim every time and reset the trip, I fill up every 225 miles

[q405mb]

Apache,

You have a very light right foot!

H

[shpub]

quote:
You have a very light right foot!

No the odometer is as accurate as the fuel gauge...

Steve

[apache]

I thought it was inaccurate in an accurate way, in other words it overreads by a small percentage but by the same percentage nonetheless or are you going to shatter that illusion too

[ATG]

depends how consistently you spin the wheels

[apache]

ah yes I see now, indirectly proportional with tyre wear

[ATG]

/off topic/ spectacular colour you've got there apache

[bob the planner]

quote:

quote:
You have a very light right foot!

No the odometer is as accurate as the fuel gauge...

Steve

I seem to be suffering from both these problems - a fuel sender with a mind of its own (mostly full, then drop like a stone), and I have suspected the odometer for a while.

Yesterday I did a 45 mile trip (according to another car - not a TVR) and the Chim reckoned it was 51. The speedo seemed about the same though when we compared notes .

Any further ideas for rectifying either problem gladly received

Bob & Chim

>> Edited by bob the planner on Monday 29th July 22:47