Fuel Sender + Speedo

Hope someone can help, my Fuel guage doesn't work, when you fill the car up it registers that there is some fuel in, uselually just a few litres, even if its full.

But then after a couple of miles the fuel gauge goes off and the light comes on, even though I've only just filled up.

Sounds like the sender to me, does anyone know if you can repair it ??? I presume it works on electrical resistance of the wires inside the sender unit.



Also my speedo is innop, the needle doesn't move at all, but then jumps a little bit when you switch the ignition off.
On the rare occasion the needle will move, but doesn't regster the correct speed.
It usually goes all the way around the clock, and I find myself doing 170+mph.

You can all laugh, but the mileometer wizzes around very quickly as well


Any help would be most appreciated.

[simontaylor]

Slow down......

sorry, could'nt resist.

The speedo is a common problem if you look at the forum. Mine has had vaious stages when it was not working properly but now fixed by Paul Sage.

However the only time it had the problem you describe of not woring properly and then jumping to 170 mph was after the battery had been replaced, accompanied by other electrical maladies. The earth strap from the battery was not tight and was filthy where it makes contact with the chassis. (Lift the plastic cover under the bonnet and look at the wire coming off the negative terminal) I would always advise checking this as it is poorly positioned and ends up corroded, damp and covered in dirt. On my car the bolt had corroded enough to damage the thread so it could no longer be tightened. I cleaned this with emery and wire wool and re-positioned to the suspension turret - again all surfaces need to be very clean to get good contact - remember all the cars electrics require a good negative through this one lead.

It may even help with the fuel gauge since earthing on a fibre-glass car is very important and can cause a miriad of problems.

Good luck - let me know if it helps.

[stephendell]

I have a brand new fuel sender if yours is the early type.

Thanks, I hope it is just the sender, what does anyone else think ????

If you are selling it, how many spondooleys will you require

My speedo has just stopped working. It started flicking around then stopped working completely! Also, both the analogue and digital trip counters have stopped working with it. Does anyone know what the problem is likely to be or suggest what things i need to check? Cheers.

Update! Just driven my car again ('86 GTA Turbo) and the speedo was working, so it's an intermittent fault. Any ideas? Thanks.

My speedo started working again last night, well when I say working, it sort of started to bounce around between 0 and 20mph, even though I was going faster than this The trip counter also started to work.

Does this mean that the instrument panel is ok ??? And that maybe its just the sender in the gearbox ????

Is there a way of testing either the sensor or the instrument panel by running a small voltage through it ????

Both my speedo and rev counter have given up now although put in the odd appearance for a few seconds here and there........fuel guage still works.....time for new clocks do you think????? Anyone?

Hello,

We have talked a lot about this subject in "Avenue de Bréauté", a very good french Alpine forum ( David Gentleman knows it) . Many GTA owners have problems with the speedo. The cause of the problem is rarely the sensor on the gearbox. You will solve the problem if you clean the connectors behind the speedo clock . I had the problem in 1996....so I cleaned correctly those connectors, and since that date it's working!!

Nico, France.

Thanks I will try that before spending money!

I have had the pod out and checked the connectors to the speedo....they appear clean......are you just talking about the one plastic multi connector plug or is there something else? Also......anyone....My dashboard lights have all gone out, and its not the bulbs. Its not the dimmer either.....wierd thing is that the fual readout lights up in normal conditions but disappears when the lights go on!! I really hate electrical faults.....have no idea what to do...all looks like spahgetti to me

Yes, it's that connector, with the speedo cable ( big grey with 2 small cables inside red and white if I remember). Use a contact cleaner and then a contact grease... If you have the pod out, do the same with all the connectors. If after this it doesn't work, try to clean the rear sensor connector. Good luck!

Nico

To find the fault ,try lowering the panel hiding the underdash wiring and give the wiring a jiggle . Go for a drive and see if it affects your speedo.
I found it was the white connector block 529 ,7 rows &abcd clean 1,2&3 C . This will hopefully help.

There is also a repair related to the small PCB in the dash pod, on the rev counter side about 15cm x 8cm as I recall. There are a couple of crap capacitors or something on it... I am going to do this repair at some point so will keep you all in the know.