I put £30 of petrol in my BX Meteor (from virtually empty), but the gauge only rises to just over half.
I'm wondering if it has lost its accuracy, beacause I would have thought £30 from empty would fill the tank up to three quarters.
Any ideas ?
John Podgorski/jrdpod.
Fuel gauges
Fuel gauges
John R D Podgorski
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mountainmanUK
Hi John,
The facetious response would probably be "Fill it right up to the top, and take another look"
Seriously though......my previous petrol BXs have all behaved a little strange when filled anywhere around half-full. Watching the gauge itself, from a full tank, it can go for ages before the needle moves at all, but the part of the gauge between 1/4 and 3/4 full seems to absolutely fly through, before slowing a bit again for the final 1/4 tank!
I always put it down to the shape of the tank, as the sender unit simply measures the actual surface height of the fuel in the tank. If a certain part of the tank is wider, or narrower, than others, the fuel level will "move" at a different rate!
Sounds long-winded, but hope it helps!
Dave
The facetious response would probably be "Fill it right up to the top, and take another look"
Seriously though......my previous petrol BXs have all behaved a little strange when filled anywhere around half-full. Watching the gauge itself, from a full tank, it can go for ages before the needle moves at all, but the part of the gauge between 1/4 and 3/4 full seems to absolutely fly through, before slowing a bit again for the final 1/4 tank!
I always put it down to the shape of the tank, as the sender unit simply measures the actual surface height of the fuel in the tank. If a certain part of the tank is wider, or narrower, than others, the fuel level will "move" at a different rate!
Sounds long-winded, but hope it helps!
Dave
My money is on the fuel tank sender John. Common fault on BX's, though if you can find a working or new one they're p*ss easy to change. Lift up the rear seat base and beneath the underlay type stuff (sometimes glued down) you'll find it. I think there are one or two wires which disconnect easily on block connectors and iirc the sender unit simply screws out. Refitting is the reversal of removal and all that.
Vauxhall apologist.
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Mike E (uk)
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Your fuel gauge has not lost its accuracy-it probably never had any!
It sounds completely normal to me.
Mine behaves just like mountain man's does.
I think Citroen did not bother to correct for the tank shape. Possibly because BXs with the larger engine have a extra large fuel tank, but the level senders are all the same.
It is quite normal for 1980s cars to have inaccurate fuel gauges.
My Peugeot 406 fuel gauge is uncannily accurate. After filling the tank, the gauge needle has visibly moved after only about 40 miles.
I have got used to it on the BX. I did consider building a circuit to calibrate it - but I have more important things to do.
Mike
It sounds completely normal to me.
Mine behaves just like mountain man's does.
I think Citroen did not bother to correct for the tank shape. Possibly because BXs with the larger engine have a extra large fuel tank, but the level senders are all the same.
It is quite normal for 1980s cars to have inaccurate fuel gauges.
My Peugeot 406 fuel gauge is uncannily accurate. After filling the tank, the gauge needle has visibly moved after only about 40 miles.
I have got used to it on the BX. I did consider building a circuit to calibrate it - but I have more important things to do.
Mike
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DavidRutherford
- BX Digit man!
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Dependant on where you bought said fuel, £30 could be barely 30 litres. Given that a BX tank is something like 58 litres (if you don't have the additional long-range tank) that's just over half a tank full... so the gauge may be entirely accurate.
If indeed you do have the long-range tank, then the capacity is 66 litres... so you would be buying less than half a tank.
I've been known to get over £60 in my BX before now... (more than the car cost)
If indeed you do have the long-range tank, then the capacity is 66 litres... so you would be buying less than half a tank.
I've been known to get over £60 in my BX before now... (more than the car cost)
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Having worked in the Fuel industry for many years and being predantict on keeping a record of Fuel consumption to save a few bucks if things look out of kilter. My advice would be :-
1, Dont look at the pound sign when filling up always note the litres. I remember the days when the guys used to come in the Petrol Station we ran for there Newspaper and 2 quid of petrol every day and during the first Gulf war wondered why there cars ran out of petrol
Lots of people seem to think cars run by miles per quid ...if only that was true.
2, Does the Fuel the orange warning light on the Fuel Gauge work? From masses of experiance with the BX when it stays on pemanatly you have 5 litres of fuel left. It probably starts flickering around 10 litres unles on a steep gradiant.
What I found with the BX fuel gauges, naa most cars is they have a tendancy of staying up near full for longer than they should before wandering down and drifting near empty.
Mountainmanuk offered some good advice, keep you fuel tank full. These jokers who came in for 2 quid every day were permanantly running on empty. The lower the car is on fuel the more bits of dirt your picking up from the bottom of your fuel tank inadvertantly put in there when you user the Fuel bowser after the muppet before drops it on the forecourt.
The other point is a low fuel tank creates condensation, condensation is water.
Suppose I have got it to a art form working my fuel consumption based on the fuel in my tank. Pressing the tripmeter at every fill up
When the nearest service station is 25km away you have to have an accurate measure and a unreliable fuel gauge well thats just not good. When I got a BX again with a fuel warning light hey that makes things so much easier.
1, Dont look at the pound sign when filling up always note the litres. I remember the days when the guys used to come in the Petrol Station we ran for there Newspaper and 2 quid of petrol every day and during the first Gulf war wondered why there cars ran out of petrol
Lots of people seem to think cars run by miles per quid ...if only that was true.2, Does the Fuel the orange warning light on the Fuel Gauge work? From masses of experiance with the BX when it stays on pemanatly you have 5 litres of fuel left. It probably starts flickering around 10 litres unles on a steep gradiant.
What I found with the BX fuel gauges, naa most cars is they have a tendancy of staying up near full for longer than they should before wandering down and drifting near empty.
Mountainmanuk offered some good advice, keep you fuel tank full. These jokers who came in for 2 quid every day were permanantly running on empty. The lower the car is on fuel the more bits of dirt your picking up from the bottom of your fuel tank inadvertantly put in there when you user the Fuel bowser after the muppet before drops it on the forecourt.
The other point is a low fuel tank creates condensation, condensation is water.
Suppose I have got it to a art form working my fuel consumption based on the fuel in my tank. Pressing the tripmeter at every fill up
When the nearest service station is 25km away you have to have an accurate measure and a unreliable fuel gauge well thats just not good. When I got a BX again with a fuel warning light hey that makes things so much easier.Fuel gauges
Thanks very much to all of you who have "fed back" on this topic.
All your theories sound very plausible, and already knowing that BXs can be "eccentric" cars, none of them surprise me !
Regards
John Podgorski/jrdpod
All your theories sound very plausible, and already knowing that BXs can be "eccentric" cars, none of them surprise me !
Regards
John Podgorski/jrdpod
John R D Podgorski
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DavidRutherford
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Re: Fuel gauges
But you've never actually tested that theory?jrdpod wrote:I would have thought £30 from empty would fill the tank up to three quarters.
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Ah but is your standard unleaded 98.9p a litre? For the first time that I can remember diesel is currently cheaper than standard unleaded here. The BP gservice station on the way out of town is the most expensive ive found - diesel 98.9p/litre, standard unleaded was 100.9p and super unleaded was 107.9p. I always use super in the GTI. I was basically out when I pulled in to the pump - it was coughing and spluttering getting there. Put £15 in. The orange reserve light didn't even go out. Gutted.
All well and good saying fill your car up - I don't want to be hauling all the extra weight around, and I don't want 70 odd quid sat in my fuel tank when it could be in my pocket
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Plus my cars have a habit of dying or crashing when I fill them up, just so I have to drain all the fuel back out...
Matt.
All well and good saying fill your car up - I don't want to be hauling all the extra weight around, and I don't want 70 odd quid sat in my fuel tank when it could be in my pocket
.Plus my cars have a habit of dying or crashing when I fill them up, just so I have to drain all the fuel back out...
Matt.
At 97.9 p per litre its £4.44 per gallon - so £30 is only 6.6 gallons.
The 66 litre tank is 14.5 gallons so your £30 will not fill it half way from empty - but if you had a gallon in it anyway then it would be about 1/2.
The 66 litre tank includes the extra small tank at the back - which can't do much for gauge accuracy unless the car is level - and accounts for why the fuel level seems to rise as the car does.
No fuel gauge is dead accurate - there are all sorts of problems like changing tank shape as the level drops - as well as the float hitting the top when full.
The 66 litre tank is 14.5 gallons so your £30 will not fill it half way from empty - but if you had a gallon in it anyway then it would be about 1/2.
The 66 litre tank includes the extra small tank at the back - which can't do much for gauge accuracy unless the car is level - and accounts for why the fuel level seems to rise as the car does.
No fuel gauge is dead accurate - there are all sorts of problems like changing tank shape as the level drops - as well as the float hitting the top when full.