280zx fuel light

[monza]

Chaps,

My fuel gauge looks like its packed up and now always sits on empty...there is quite a bit of tank in the fuel which I would rather use up before removing the sender for inspection - does anyone know if the warning light on the dash marked 'fuel' is wired in line with the gauge or does it have its own wire from the sender....so is there a slim chance it might still work and warn me when the fuel is really low ?....

I'm a biker so I can live without one of them there new fangled fuel level gauges, an idiot light is good enough for me......

cheers
Ash

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Chaps,

My fuel gauge looks like its packed up and now always sits on empty...there is quite a bit of tank in the fuel which I would rather use up before removing the sender for inspection - does anyone know if the warning light on the dash marked 'fuel' is wired in line with the gauge or does it have its own wire from the sender....so is there a slim chance it might still work and warn me when the fuel is really low ?....

I'm a biker so I can live without one of them there new fangled fuel level gauges, an idiot light is good enough for me......

cheers
Ash

Hi Ash, there is quite a bit of tank (rust particles) in my fuel too - it tends to block the filter.

Motorbike fuel gauge - I think I had a fuel gauge on my 1979 Suzuki GSX750.

 

[Huw]

Hi Ash

What year is your car, the senders were different from 82 (I think)? The later ones are a kind of plastic tube. You can swap out an early one for the later type as the early senders are not available, there is a thread on it and has pictures of both. http://zclub.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24983&highlight=fuel+sender I think Mike (MJP) still has a later sender.

As to the fuel warning light, they are on a separate circuit, on the earlier type of sender its connected via the red wire from the unit. The yellow wire is the fuel gauge. You can check if it is the gauge that's faulty by disconnecting the sender and shorting the yellow wire (to the gauge) to earth with the ignition on. You should get a full deflection of the needle if its working. If you do then its the sender that the problem.

From personal experience before I changed the sender, the idiot light came on just before it ran out of fuel so I didn't get much warning.

Cheers

Huw

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Hi Ash

What year is your car, the senders were different from 82 (I think)? The later ones are a kind of plastic tube. You can swap out an early one for the later type as the early senders are not available, there is a thread on it and has pictures of both. http://zclub.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24983&highlight=fuel+sender I think Mike (MJP) still has a later sender.

As to the fuel warning light, they are on a separate circuit, on the earlier type of sender its connected via the red wire from the unit. The yellow wire is the fuel gauge. You can check if it is the gauge that's faulty by disconnecting the sender and shorting the yellow wire (to the gauge) to earth with the ignition on. You should get a full deflection of the needle if its working. If you do then its the sender that the problem.

From personal experience before I changed the sender, the idiot light came on just before it ran out of fuel so I didn't get much warning.

Cheers

Huw

I knew someone would be able to help.

In my early motoring days fuel guages were not as accurate as they are now (and tanks smaller) so when I first had a car I would carry a can of petrol and run the car until it stopped - then I had a reference. People used to say that it would drag 'muck' through running it dry but I have never understood that. If there is muck in the tank it's in the bottom anyway and besides that the supply is usually taken from a bit higher than the absolute 'bottom'.

 

[AndyMinto]

If it helps my idiot light comes on with about 10 litres left in the tank so, less than 40 miles.I would not advise running it dry as priming the system can be a pain.

 

[Mr.F]

I think Mike (MJP) still has a later sender.

He does! It needs to go - call and make me a sensible cash offer. Will cost a tenner to ship.

 

[monza]

Chaps,

thanks for the replies...going to have a look at the problem tomorrow if the weather is ok...

( the good news is that its just passed its MOT.......so its targa top motoring in 2015....the MOT tester had never seen a 280zx before....policemen, doctors and now car mechanics are all starting to look younger than me ! )

Cheers
Ash

 

[Arkwright]

sorry nothing to help with original post but just to say I took my 280ZX in for MOT last week and in no time a group of young lads from the adjacent garages had gathered round to admire it. There were about 8 of them and I was surprised they could even identify the type of car. I found their knowledge of the marque and their enthusiasm amazing. (The type of people you mention have all looked that way to me for quite a while now)!

 

[monza]

Chaps,

Had a look through the access hole in the boot floor, and the problem seems to be an intermittent connection on the yellow wire going into the tank....mines a 1983 car and the wire goes into a plastic 'nipple' on the top of the tank, this rotates (!) and presumably is pushed onto a metal fitting on the tank ?....does anyone know if this nipple pops off - so I can clean the connection up. ?

cheers
Ash

 

[Huw]

Hi Ash

Under that plastic cap (nipple) the wire is connected to the unit with a rivet type affair. You could possibly repair it (I'm looking to repair an old unit I have, but on the 'to do sometime' list). To repair it you will have to remove the sender from the tank as the rivet is pushed through from the underside (tank side) of the sender mounting plate. If you are going to that trouble it would probably easier just to swap out the unit with a replacement one to be sure it will work.

Cheers

Huw