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Club4AG Forum Topics » Cars - RWD - (AE86, TE, KP, RA, TA) » DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level
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 DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level
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katsuzhi
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329 posts [100%]
Chula Vista CA
 DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level2:55 PM 3/2/2012 Reply  Edit

Couldnt find anything on how to test your fuel float and gauge so i decide to make a post for it with lots of pix. we all love pix! hope it helps

1) Remove the connection then remove the three screws

2) Remove the five screws then pull the float out. BE CAREFUL not to mess up the rubber gasket when removing it. Take your time. Make sure you cover the hole with a towel so your garage wont smell like gas

This is how it looks like

3) Probe the # 1 pin at the connect shown above in FSM. Then probe the other one at the arm of the float then measure your resistance

Full Position

About 1/2 float position

Empty

If your in spec then your float is good and now check the fuel gauge, (refer to to FSM above).

*A Extra step that I did*

My float was in spec but it was giving me a hard time. The readings would jump around and sometimes wont read at all when i move the float around. so what i did was i sanded the surface of the sweep, the under surface of arm any contact points so it has better contact point and reading

I sanded part of it. Sliver is what i sanded and brown is what was original there.

Finished product

After result...

Full

1/2

Empty


Gave me better readings. It made a big difference for me. My Gauge level before was reading little more then 1/4 before i did this test. Now its reading 3/4. Thats was a BIG difference. Took me 30 min. Start to finish.


jondee86
Reggae Rules...



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4374 posts [96%]
Wellington, NZ

 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (katsuzhi) »3:17 PM 3/2/2012 Reply  Edit

Awesome post Stickied. Becuz I needed someone to show me how easy this was.
Now I will be able to get my gauge to read more than half when the tank is full

Cheers... jondee86


jondee86 has been a member for 735,126 days.

Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they search before posting, and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

katsuzhi
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329 posts [100%]
Chula Vista CA
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (jondee86) »3:32 PM 3/2/2012 Reply  Edit

thanks
morgan
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6446 posts [93%]
just be glad your not here, nj
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (katsuzhi) »5:35 AM 3/4/2012 Reply  Edit

Nice stuff, I just became too lazy to care. It's so easy I can't help but try this.


haha cali...i got one of you 86's, and your not getting it back.
my 20v in an 86 swap guide
my mess of an 86...
*east coast toyotas forum*
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
taroroot


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3167 posts [100%]
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (morgan) »9:14 AM 3/4/2012 Reply  Edit

I have yet to do this on mine, I'd be careful on sanding the wire coils, you don't want to short coils to each other. It won't be the end of the world, but it'll give inaccurate readings if the coils short together. As long as you don't mash the wires together it should be good. If the corrosion isn't bad, you could do an old electronics trick and use a pencil eraser instead of sandpaper. The other tip I've heard of with the sweep arm is to ever so slightly bend it in to make it contact the wires a little better.
Red




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9661 posts [78%]
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (taroroot) »9:36 AM 3/5/2012 Reply  Edit

Pink pencil erasers can be a bad thing, they are actually abrasive and when you clean contacts with them, they often oxidize worse afterwards.

I think it would be better to clean the coil wire gently with a brass or copper "curly cate" kitchen scrubbing pad. Not steel wool, but brass/bronze/copper. Steel leaving rusty bits behind, very bad idea.

And then afterwards, to apply very sparingly a little silicon dielectric grease just along the path where the wiper arm wipes on the coil. Or better yet, Krytox grease, which lasts longer and moves less. Either one is probably going to be more expensive but better quality in the little packets sold as "ignition point" or "spark plug" grease.

FWIW my gas guage was, ah, "riceburner" since day one. Sometimes the tank is full enough to burp and it still says 3/4. Other times it goes over "F".

Just print a big "F" on a laser printer, tape it over whatever spot the needle likes to come back up to.<G>


--Original owner, '85 Corolla GTS. Will trade for a Cadillac-Gage V150, or a Ford GT, in similar condition.
Jinsoku




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5127 posts [100%]
NORCAL/Maxwell AFB Alabama

  »11:51 PM 3/5/2012 Reply  Edit

tight!!!

i did something similar to my car last year and it still works great!!!!


green tea kit kat and mochi...
rongfk
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1296 posts [97%]
SO.CAL. LWD ca
  »5:56 AM 3/6/2012 Reply  Edit

mine does the same , thanks.


want OE power windows in your ae86?
want to convert your turn signal switch to opperate your jdm kouki signals properly?
want an adaptor harness, or sensors for you jdm digital cluster?
want a 9k tach to modify your stock zeinki GTS cluster?

HIT ME UP...... if i dont already have it, i can get it.
rongfk1963@yahoo.com

some helpfull info for you.....
AE86 Manual (100Mb) http://files.aeu86.org/manuals/AE86Manual.pdf
A4-GE Manual (92Mb) http://files.aeu86.org/manuals/4A-GEManual.pdf


illwillem
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71 posts [100%]
Los Angeles CA
  »11:41 AM 3/6/2012 Reply  Edit

3 of 5 of screws holding the plate onto my gas tankwe so rusty they stripped or broke, let me tell you how fun it was drilling them out and extracting them while over am open gas tank... while leaning over the trunk : /

everything else went according to plan though. good write up

Red




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9661 posts [78%]
 Re: (illwillem) »12:26 PM 3/6/2012 Reply  Edit

FWIW, if you have to work on a gasoline tank and want to make it harder to explode, pick up some dry ice. Break it up, drop it into the tank, wait for the boiling to stop. At that point the tank will be full of inflammable CO2 vapor instead of air, and it will be damned hard to have an accidental explosion.

Eventually the tank vents and clears itself, the CO2 won't bother anything.


--Original owner, '85 Corolla GTS. Will trade for a Cadillac-Gage V150, or a Ford GT, in similar condition.
martinsr86
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76 posts [100%]
tustin california
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (katsuzhi) »1:54 AM 5/28/2012 Reply  Edit

thank you man!!! mine was at 3/4 the most and this fixed it.
kevon54
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111 posts [100%]
Corona CA
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (martinsr86) »11:30 AM 6/5/2012 Reply  Edit

Ummm is it weird that I didn't have any metal coil thing. So there wasn't anything for me to clean? =/?
Red




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9661 posts [78%]
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (kevon54) »1:20 PM 6/5/2012 Reply  Edit

Kevon, that metal coil serves as a variable resistor. I don't know if Toyota or other makers upgraded to a carbon resistance film instead, but they do use a resistance film (a black carbon coating) in the TPS so it is very possible you've got a replacement or later model fuel gauge with a carbon film instead of wire windings. DO NOT polish a carbon film, it is too easy to rub it away. You might wipe it clean witha clean rag and some alcohol to take off any contamination, but nothing abrasive.


--Original owner, '85 Corolla GTS. Will trade for a Cadillac-Gage V150, or a Ford GT, in similar condition.
kevon54
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111 posts [100%]
Corona CA
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (martinsr86) »3:31 PM 6/12/2012 Reply  Edit

Ummm is it weird that I didn't have any metal coil thing. So there wasn't anything for me to clean? =/?
morgan
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6446 posts [93%]
just be glad your not here, nj
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (kevon54) »5:53 PM 6/12/2012 Reply  Edit

Pics...or it didn't happen.


haha cali...i got one of you 86's, and your not getting it back.
my 20v in an 86 swap guide
my mess of an 86...
*east coast toyotas forum*
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Red




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9661 posts [78%]
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (kevon54) »6:03 PM 6/12/2012 Reply  Edit

No coil, no clean, no problem. But you can stick a jerry can of gas in the trunk and see if the little "needs gas!" light comes on when you're down 9-1/2 gallons or not.


--Original owner, '85 Corolla GTS. Will trade for a Cadillac-Gage V150, or a Ford GT, in similar condition.
kevon54
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111 posts [100%]
Corona CA
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (martinsr86) »8:57 AM 6/19/2012 Reply  Edit

Ummm is it weird that I didn't have any metal coil thing. So there wasn't anything for me to clean? =/?
katsuzhi
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329 posts [100%]
Chula Vista CA
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (kevon54) »8:31 PM 8/16/2012 Reply  Edit

Pix ?
rocksteadyracer
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59 posts [100%]
racine wi
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (katsuzhi) »6:29 PM 12/3/2012 Reply  Edit

what you measuring with multimeter ohms?
Red




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9661 posts [78%]
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (rocksteadyracer) »9:27 PM 12/3/2012 Reply  Edit

Ohms. The sender's business end is a variable resistor with a wiper arm.


--Original owner, '85 Corolla GTS. Will trade for a Cadillac-Gage V150, or a Ford GT, in similar condition.
rocksteadyracer
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59 posts [100%]
racine wi
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (Red) »8:55 AM 12/7/2012 Reply  Edit

I'm assuming my sending unit works because the fuel pump was replaced by previous owner, so maybe it's bad, but did I not see somewhere on here that the AE86 also had some probs with the actual guage itself?
rocksteadyracer
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59 posts [100%]
racine wi
 Re: DIY: Testing Fuel Gauge and level (rocksteadyracer) »8:57 AM 12/7/2012 Reply  Edit

guess I should start with the test of the guage as it shows at the start of the post duh
 



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