Freelander 1 Fuel gauge - has someone fitted the wrong sender unit?

Hi guys,

A minor irritant in the scheme of things, and perhaps one I'll just live with, but the fuel gauge calibration appears well out.

I fill the tank - the gauge goes to "max". I can then do over 100 miles before the needle finally decends below the "Full" line, and then ruins the impression that the Land Rover appears to be sipping fuel at a rate to embarrass an owner of a Hybrid vehicle, the needle drops like a stone to under half over the next 100 miles.

I haven't yet had the courage to see how low the gauge will go before it is really running on fumes.

Or... is this simply a "feature" of a 2001MY FL1? lol

My 2006 TD4 does similar.

Ah - great! A "feature" then LOL

It actually quite common on a lot of vehicles that use a float and lever to measure the fuel. When full, the float is submerged below the level of the fuel. So for the first quarter of a tank, the sender just registers full. Then as the fuel is used, the float actually starts to float on the fuel. At this point the float drops quickly, as the lever follows an arc. At the top and bottom of the arc, the lever moves quickly, but in the middle, it moves more slowly. This all adds up to make a fuel gauge that is far from linear in its display.

Lots of modern vehicles use a linear float and sensor, giving a much more consistent fuel usage.


Additionally, the fuel tank isn't the same volume for every mm of it's hight, especially at the bottom. Don't forget that the FL1 is raised at centre of the bottom, to accommodate the propshaft. This makes the last 1/4 of the gauge go down fast, but the actual fuel volume of last 1/4 tank is well under the displayed 1/4, simply because the tank is a funny shape at the bottom.
I hope that makes sense.

Need to bend the float arm up a little bit to better reach the true "full" position? Runs the risk of running out of travel to empty though - d'oh!

rob_bell said:

Need to bend the float arm up a little bit to better reach the true "full" position?

Click to expand...

I'd leave it where it is and just remember that the last 1/4 gives only half the miles as the first 1/4.

Well given that it takes more than 100 miles of motoring to get off the "F" mark, the last 1/4 is going to fly by in comparison! LOL

I'm planning to leave it - unless I need to disturb it for some other reason. Something I can certainly live with - and I have plenty of other little things to fix

rob_bell said:

Well given that it takes more than 100 miles of motoring to get off the "F" mark, the last 1/4 is going to fly by in comparison! LOL

Click to expand...

They're all the same, except for the V6, which empties the whole take in a couple of hundred miles.

Is it wrong to check if there fuel in the tank with a lighted matches, as the smell is putting me off when I open the cap the petrol station?.

I know someone who went looking for a gas leak with a lit lighter.

It took a while for his eyebrows to grow back

Cheers mate: awesome! Something I can easily check out when I have cause to take out the fuel sensor from the tank

Mines the same, I tend to use it as If its above 1/4 tank I am fine, below I need fuel now - don't take any other notice of, dont bother trying to work out how long I have left etc