Oh, the irony....

[schnell540]

My gas was low this morning on the way to dropping off my son at his basketball camp, so I stop and put about half a tank worth in (limited to that amount because I had not recently refinanced my home). With slightly over half a tank, the low fuel light come and stays on, when it was not on when the tank was right on empty.

Is there an obvious fix -- other than disconnecting the low fuel sensor lead....

 

[Malc]

It's possible that the float is stuck... Did the gauge come up after putting fuel in?
Take the wire off the sensor - light still on? If so then there is a wiring problem somewhere between the dash and the tank...
If not then ground the wire at the tank. If the light comes on then the problem is in the sender unit.
The only way to find out is to take the sender out of the tank

 

[schnell540]

It's possible that the float is stuck... Did the gauge come up after putting fuel in?
Take the wire off the sensor - light still on? If so then there is a wiring problem somewhere between the dash and the tank...
If not then ground the wire at the tank. If the light comes on then the problem is in the sender unit.
The only way to find out is to take the sender out of the tank

The gauge did come up and reads what appears to be correctly. I'll trouble shoot tonight. Thanks for the help.

 

[shanon]

Coupe spotting SF.... 8) ...was that your Golf CSL outside the flower market/SOMA ealier today around lunch???

Nice coupe.

-shanon

 

[schnell540]

Coupe spotting SF.... 8) ...was that your Golf CSL outside the flower market/SOMA ealier today around lunch???

Nice coupe.

-shanon

yup. Lunching nearby with some old friends. And the low fuel light was on, even though I had a half a tank.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[blumax]

Faulty low fuel light illuminated

Remove the grey board over your gas tank and before pulling the sender unit out and risking a leaky seal afterwards--try this--give a gentle bump on the top of the sending unit with a rubber mallet. If it's stuck at the bottom thus triggering the low fuel light this might jar it enough to return to its proper floating position.

A very good practice to follow with our old dears as Malc would say--refinance your house and first born to have enough $'s to keep the fuel tank full or nearly so--will prevent internal rusting and minimize gumming up as there is less surface for your gas to evaporate and or be the mess after sitting for long periods.

Oh yes--I would sugest not to use those wimpy clear gas filters--get a tii aluminum can type filter.

HTH

 

[schnell540]

It's possible that the float is stuck... Did the gauge come up after putting fuel in?
Take the wire off the sensor - light still on? If so then there is a wiring problem somewhere between the dash and the tank...
If not then ground the wire at the tank. If the light comes on then the problem is in the sender unit.
The only way to find out is to take the sender out of the tank

It was/is the sender it turns out. So, I left it disconnected for now as it did not respond to the rubber mallet, unfortuneately.