not working fuel gauge

[j.stobart]

Alright, so now I'm p**sed off, my fuel gauge has nor been working for some time now, but my low fuel light did, so i went on the trip meter 200 miles and i needed fuel (200tdi 90) now my trip meter has stopped working, and i need to get my gauge fixed. I tried the obvious, sender unit, still not workin, then i tried the gauge, still not workin, anyone any ideas how i can fix my problem as I am crap with car electrics, and dont know where the wiring goes or even what to look for??? AAAHHHHHHHHHHH

[L90OOK]

You could have been unlucky & fitted a u/s sender unit or gauge.
Wiring for the gauge is a nightmare.  Have a look at the electric plugs that are in front of the Dash (in engine bay) to see if there are any loose plugs. 
There Haynes manual has a wiring diagram for the fuel system.
Check the continuity from the gauge to the sender unit as the wire can sometime ground to earth  :roll:

[j.stobart]

I even tried to plug the wires to another sender unit and tried to get it to read without it being in the tank, still no joy, drivin me nuts, someone said just run some new wires but I haven't a clue what I'm doing with stuff like wiring and would probably just end up wasting my own time.

[L90OOK]

It is a PITA...took me 4 years of fiddling with mine till one day I spent a whole day going through the system.  Turned out the gauge was u/s the wiring was wrong & the the wires had been chopped by the rear X member (110)  :roll:

Only thing to do is set aside some time & go through the whole lot piece by piece  :(

[j.stobart]

don't fancy that much lol

[L90OOK]

 :lol:  I lived with a broken fuel gauge as my trip meter worked...went around Iceland without it working  :joker: :-'

Good luck & enjoy  :twisted:

[TDi90]

could be dodgy earth.... on the top of the fuel tank....

[j.stobart]

could be dodgy earth.... on the top of the fuel tank....

how do i test that?

[TDi90]

just raplace the crimp.
 :twisted:

[j.stobart]

you mean put new connectors on the ends of the wires that attach to the sender?

[TDi90]

yes. unless they look in good condish then it could be a different fault somewhere else possibly the sender unit...
R

[Range Rover Blues]

I'm not sure how ther Defeender one works but on the RRC the fuel light is controlled by a circuit board on the back of the dash, itpicked it's signal up from the sender wire.  What this means is that is the fuel light works thenthe sender is working and the guage itself is shot.

How many wires go to a defender fuel sender?

[TDi90]

er... 3? i think....  :?

[L90OOK]

2 + 1 Earth  :lol:
RRB...IIRC they work in the same way & are a royal PITA  :lol:

[j.stobart]

yer definitely three wires and three spades on the sender unit, i figured one of the connections was for the light, maybe I'm wrong though. Will try new connectors and see if that does owt. I was also considering that maybe the bulb for the low fuel light has simply blown. Luckily I have a set of clocks etc from another defender, and I've already tried the gauge out of that, still no joy. We tested another sender that we knew was definitely good, and just connected the wires and played with the float to try and make it read, still no joy, tried swearing loudly at it, and even showed it a box of matches, but it still didn't move, a mystery, i think it maybe a trip to Simon Services me thinks, and I hate being defeated 

[Evilgoat]

Had a broken wire internally on the disco.

Remove the sender and place a multimeter accross two terminals. One combination will give you a reading that changes as you move the float, the wiring diagrams should show you which.

If you dont see this, the sender is toast.