Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Morning all

Recently I had the rear crank seal replaced. For this they removed the engine.

After the repair, the fuel gauge starting to show incorrect readings.

When I got the pajero back from the repair, there was approx a 1/4 tank fuel. When I start the pajero, the fuel gauge will climb to over half and after driving for a while, it will return to the "assuming correct" position. Not sure how much fuel I have left I filled the Pajero on Friday, needle only rise to about 7/8.

I asked the guy to have a look at this (pajero had to go back for something they've missed...but this is another story for another day), they didn't get close to the fuel level sensor. Makes sense, the thing is in the tank not somewhere close to the engine bay. Maybe this is just coincidence.

Anybody ever experience something similar? What is/was the fix? The mech said it could be that the contacts on the level sensor started to oxidize and is not making proper contact giving false readings.

If they lifted the car on a lift and used the fuel tank as the lifting point they could have dented the fuel tank and damaged the fuel pickup and sensor. The plastic protection cover under the tank will pop back to shape after such an occurrence but the metal tank will unfortunately not. PLENTY bucks to replace so hopefully I am now just chasing up baboons behind the mountain.

Possibly just a loose connection somewhere instead?

CATS

I will check the fuel tank, but I don't think they lifted the vehicle, they removed the engine to replace the crank seal not the diff as per instruction manual.

Will check though.

He did check all wiring and couldn't find any loose or damaged connections or wires.

You haven't said which Pajero has the faulty gauge so assume that it is Snoopy. I doubt whether the fuel tank layout has changed much since my own Gen1 Paj, so will suggest that the sensor is probably mounted towards the front and on the top side of the fuel tank. It is accessible through a metal cover which you will find after moving the carpeting out of the way. There is a plug which connects onto the sensor. If you remove plug and short out the connections you will see the fuel gauge or the fuel almost empty light respond and thus prove that the sensor is faulty and not the interconnecting wiring. The sensor itself can be removed by undoing the four PK screws. Care must be taken when withdrawing the sensor because the float is on the end of a long wire arm and you have to wiggle it to get it out of the hole. The sensor consists of a wire wound resistor which has a movable contact attached to the float arm, so that the amount of resistance tells the fuel gauge what to indicate. The wire wound resistor may be damaged, in which case you need a new sensor, or perhaps the arm does not always touch the wire so needs a little adjustment. Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

Hi,

Just submitted a quote for a dent fuel tank to the insurance

R13 000

Skillie wrote:Hi,

Just submitted a quote for a dent fuel tank to the insurance

R13 000

Eina.......
I don't think my problem is a dented fuel tank...if it is, then my mechanic will foot the bill because it was fine when I took the pajero in. Will check the tank tonight.

Will check wiring this weekend and take it from there.