Sticking Fuel Gauge?

[JayJay1374]

Earlier today I put £25 of petrol in and the gauge didn't move at all. Instead of increasing its just started decreasing as normal. It's not the first time this has happened. To fix it before ive just put abit more petrol in and the gauge jumped up. Has this happened to anyone else?

Cheers

JJ

[MärkJ]

I have noticed something similar before although I only put a tenner in mine and it didn't register. It seems that you need to put a fair bit in before the gauge registers that fuel has actually gone in. I know £25 doesn't get you much gas these days but it should have been enough to register something.

[is200 Newbie]

I had this exact fault diagnosed on an Astra - it was the fuel sender unit - was replaced and it sorted the problem out. Only cost me £25 but that was a Vauxhall !

[Captain Lexus]

Hi,

Have a search in the archives. There is plenty of information about this.

The fuel level display is calculated by the ECU on an IS.

You can find (and i usually do) that when you fill the car from empty the fuel gauge stays in the red for a few miles before flicking straight back up to full. this is probably due to the ECU only reading the sender gauge signal every few miles or processing cycles rather than constantly.

I tend to zero one of the trip gauges everytime i fill up. This way i know how many miles i travel per tankful.

I'm sure one of the resident guru's on here will either confirm this or shoot me down in flames!!

Thanks

Sean