Hey all, Ive finally got down through my list of things to work on and the next one is the fuel gauge. When its full, (pump clicks off) the gauge only reads just over 3/4 tank and I can keep running for miles past the empty mark. Is there an adjustment knob somewhere like the mk3 tank sender had on the float arm or is it more complicated? by the way this is the mpi fueling setup.
I have run a tank dry then filled it till the pump stopped, I only managed to get 27 litres in it with the nozzle all the way into the tank. I them brimmed it as much as i was brave enough to and managed to get 32 litres in, allowing for 1 litre left in the bottom of the tank, and 1 litre air space at the top, that gave 34 litres as per the book
If you manage to brim it and te gauge still reads 3/4, it could be anything really. The SPi/MPi tank sender is different, it has a bend in the arm to fit round the fuel pump. I dont know if a standard tank sender would fit, and if it did, it would foul the pump.
As for driving miles after the needle sat in the red, this is normal. I drove for 80miles before it started to complain. that was frome where the very point of the needle was in line with the bottom edge of the red line.
I suffer with the same problem too, and so do people i know who have got mpi’s etc
Personally i think its just a qwerk of the tank and sender unit…although it can be a bit disconcerting especially when you use a “modern” car on a daily basis like i do ironically my mini is newer then my daily driver lol…and the fuel gauage fluctuates on that too lol)
I found by turning the fuel pump nozzle by 90 degrees when filling the tank helps get a little bit more fuel in before it clicks off )
> I suffer with the same problem too, and so do people i know who have got mpi’s etc
Personally i think its just a qwerk of the tank and sender unit…although it can be a bit disconcerting especially when you use a “modern” car on a daily basis like i do ironically my mini is newer then my daily driver lol…and the fuel gauage fluctuates on that too lol)
I found by turning the fuel pump nozzle by 90 degrees when filling the tank helps get a little bit more fuel in before it clicks off )
Its the same with mini too, it just seems to be one of those mini things
by the way Great tip James MPI LOL I will give it a go on my next fill up
I think that little trick is called brimming it
I guess I should give that a shot before trying to do anything else. I just thought there might have been a fancy recalibration method or something. I have a couple long cross country trips planned to attend the mini 50 celebrations and the farther I can go between fillups the better. I was thinking of fabricating a small tank to go on the right side of the trunk next to the washer bottle and another below the trunk in between the subframe. I am not sure how I would tie them into the primary tank or fill them up but for now it is just an idea.
If it’s reading 3/4 when full, and going for miles on empty, there is an adjustment to make. You take the sender unit out and bend the float arm down
I’ve had to do this on every mini I’ve ever owned to get a ‘correct’ reading. Even had to do it on a brand new sender unit from Mini Spares. My Kingfisher Blue MPi reads about a needles width under full when brimmed but when it’s on empty, it’s REALLY empty. I now carry a spare can everywhere as I’ve run out on more than one occasion recently on long daily commutes to London
You could also test that the gauge works properly by removing the 2 spade terminals off the side of the fuel tank, connecting them together with a paper clip and then with the ignition on the fuel gauge should then shoot up to ‘Full’.
