Corsa waggly fuel gauge

When the petrol gauge on my sons Corsa 1.2 gets below the 20 mark, it
becomes erratic, moving from empty to 20 at seemingly random intervals.
Anyone have any idea what`s wrong? tank sender? some kind of damper?
voltage regulator?

Ron

 

usual crappy vx problem, never reads correct when low either!
never consistantly accurate, 1 min red is ok, next time it runs out as soon
as the light comes on.

mike

 

If it only happens over a small range of the fuel gauge & the
temperature gauge reads steady all the time, probably not voltage
regulator & I would go for the tank sender unit. About £30 the last
time I bought one for a Nova.

 

Cheers for that, it`s what I figured, wonder how difficult it is to change?

Ron

 

I've not seen a Corsa tank (not sure which year you have) but in
general it depends if you can see the wiring & plate that secures the
sender on the fuel tank from under the car or it may be accessed
through a large plate / bung (plastic??) under the rear seat if sender
is on the top of the fuel tank. Generally the sender will twist /
unscrew & you may need a new gasket when you order the sender if it has
one. Make sure you use up as much petrol as possible before working on
the fuel tank particularly if sender is on the side of the fuel tank.
This work is of course highly dangerous because of the potentially
explosive fumes particularly in enclosed areas. Also disconnect the
battery to minimise chances of sparks.

 

Cheers

Ron

 

Probably still do it, they are all crap.

Mine has done it since I got the car at 2yr old.

I just ignore the fuel gauge, I know I get over 500 miles from a tank, when
I get to 450 I fill up as soon as possible to the brim, reset the odometer
and off I go again.


Tom