fuel gage

can any one help me out please.
ive got a 200tdi and the fuel gage has stopped working. just shows empty all the time.
have tested the wiring to the top of the sender and
green and black - live
purple and white - nothing
black - nothing

some clever person has cut all the wires at the back of the stereo so not sure if that could have anything to do with it.
just want to make sure before i go to the expense of a new sender unit
cheers

askey79 said:

can any one help me out please.
ive got a 200tdi and the fuel gage has stopped working. just shows empty all the time.
have tested the wiring to the top of the sender and
green and black - live
purple and white - nothing
black - nothing

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I'd be worried if you did get a reading off the Black as that is the earth wire have you tested the wires for continuity to rule out a break in the wire somewhere or to see if it has been cut at the stereo?

I would guess:

Green and black is the live feed
Purple and white is the "low fuel" wire which will only become live when the fuel light would come on. Try touching the green and black with the purple and see if the light comes on.
Black is of course earth so wouldn't have a reading! (but when you short the black with the green and black the sender should read full)
Cheers
OD

have tested the wires and seems to be ok. the light is already on saying fuel tank is empty. does that help

askey79 said:

have tested the wires and seems to be ok. the light is already on saying fuel tank is empty. does that help

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Have you tried swapping the wires over on the gauge? failing that sounds like a faulty gauge

Sounds like the wires are just the wrong way round and the guage isn't faulty - has it ever worked or is it a new gauge?

I just replaced mine last weekend with a britpart one to find that they've completely changed the wiring and whe i connected it as it had been, the fuel light was always on but on a dimmer switch, and the gauge would only work when the tank was down to its last quarter, otherwise nothing! You can easily check which terminal is which with a meter.

I'm sure theres 2 types of fuel sender,the earlyest ones were metal and used to rust where the pipes go into the top,they were replaced by a plastic type and the wiring was different but could easily be cut and joined to work correctly.

have tried all ways with the wires and still nothing. think its going to have to be a new one and try that. does anyone know roughly how many miles i should be getting off a tenners fuel.

askey79 said:

have tried all ways with the wires and still nothing. think its going to have to be a new one and try that. does anyone know roughly how many miles i should be getting off a tenners fuel.

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40 to 50

A tenners worth of fuel won't even register on the gauge btw, minimum is 15 litres if I remember correctly.

Have you tried the "shorting" trick i mentioned above? That will determine whether it's the sender or the wiring. (or the way you got it plugged in!)