My fuel gauge is stuck on full, i picked up another voltage stabiliser but still have the same problem unless of course it has exactly the same fault as the exising stabiliser. The car is a 1965 850 btw.
These are the conditions vs reading:
ignition off - empty
ignition on - full
disconnect green/black wire from sender - full
disconnect green from gauge to I terminal on stabiliser - empty
Any guesses as to whats causing this? As disconnecting the sender doesnt have any effect I assume its at the instrument end.
Fuel Gauge reads Full
-
haynes
- 850 Super
- Posts: 176
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 10:31 am
- Location: Dorset
-
Spider
- 1275 Cooper S
- Posts: 4805
- Joined: Mon May 07, 2012 6:10 am
- Location: Big Red, Australia
- Has thanked: 125 times
- Been thanked: 34 times
Re: Fuel Gauge reads Full
Your green/black wire is shorted on to the body somewhere between the sender and the gauge. Could be a ripe bugger of a thing to find, but I'd suggest tracking it down as some of the other rear wires maybe damaged.
-
haynes
- 850 Super
- Posts: 176
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 10:31 am
- Location: Dorset
Re: Fuel Gauge reads Full
by jove I think youve done it
Running another cable and it seems to work - but only when i disconnect the existing cable, which is something i didnt do last time i tried this.
What sort of route does that cable take - it disappears through the boot floor, does it go under the car on the outside? Does the loom enter through the engine bay or somewhere else?
Running another cable and it seems to work - but only when i disconnect the existing cable, which is something i didnt do last time i tried this.
What sort of route does that cable take - it disappears through the boot floor, does it go under the car on the outside? Does the loom enter through the engine bay or somewhere else?
-
mk1coopers
- 1275 Cooper S
- Posts: 2005
- Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:14 pm
- Has thanked: 2 times
- Been thanked: 1 time
Re: Fuel Gauge reads Full
The loom goes behind the tank, up the C post, along the channel behind the roof lining then down the A post and out into the engine bay by the wiper motor (IIRC)
-
Spider
- 1275 Cooper S
- Posts: 4805
- Joined: Mon May 07, 2012 6:10 am
- Location: Big Red, Australia
- Has thanked: 125 times
- Been thanked: 34 times
Re: Fuel Gauge reads Full
I'm not sure if the 65 models had the 2 piece headlining? If it does, pull the head lining out and then it will be fairly easy to get to the wires. If it has a glued in head lining, you can lift out the rear parcel shelf trim & the side window + rubber, remove the C pillar trim, then pull the wires up that far. Check them there as that may be where the damage is but I've always found that they crap out at the top of the A pillar.
3 or 4 Hail Merrys, and you could try to pull them from the engine bay, disconnect the wire to the Interior lamp first and then tie on a draw string to that and another on the wires in the boot. Deep breath and go slow, but you maybe able to pull them down in to the engine bay (they disappear up the A pillar just above the wiper motor). The fix / repair / replace what ever, loom them up in non-adhesive PVC Tape and 3 more Hail Merrys and pull them back in. You'll need to pull from the boot and the the Interior light a bit on each at a time.
Absolutely no guarantees that this will work, so be prepared to have to pull the roof trim out and then re-fit it (or have that done for you). I've done it this way a few times and had a 7 out of 10 success rate, but it's nerve racking every single time. One time I got them out OK but there was just no way they were going back in!
Or, as an alternative, abandon the original rear running wires (except the Interior Light - Purple / White) and run new ones through or under the car. I'd suggest abandoning them all as if one is damaged, then there is a good chance others wouldn't be far behind.
edit> just before you put yourself through all that, find the connector block under the front scuttle above the wiper motor and check that's OK. If it is, then find the Green / Black wire and disconnect there, see if the gauge reads zero. If it still reads full, then the short is between that connector block and the gauge itself. That will be fiddely, but quite fixable.
3 or 4 Hail Merrys, and you could try to pull them from the engine bay, disconnect the wire to the Interior lamp first and then tie on a draw string to that and another on the wires in the boot. Deep breath and go slow, but you maybe able to pull them down in to the engine bay (they disappear up the A pillar just above the wiper motor). The fix / repair / replace what ever, loom them up in non-adhesive PVC Tape and 3 more Hail Merrys and pull them back in. You'll need to pull from the boot and the the Interior light a bit on each at a time.
Absolutely no guarantees that this will work, so be prepared to have to pull the roof trim out and then re-fit it (or have that done for you). I've done it this way a few times and had a 7 out of 10 success rate, but it's nerve racking every single time. One time I got them out OK but there was just no way they were going back in!
Or, as an alternative, abandon the original rear running wires (except the Interior Light - Purple / White) and run new ones through or under the car. I'd suggest abandoning them all as if one is damaged, then there is a good chance others wouldn't be far behind.
edit> just before you put yourself through all that, find the connector block under the front scuttle above the wiper motor and check that's OK. If it is, then find the Green / Black wire and disconnect there, see if the gauge reads zero. If it still reads full, then the short is between that connector block and the gauge itself. That will be fiddely, but quite fixable.