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Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 12:46 pm
by BigM
Hi all
On my prins system with a 4 hole donut tank my LED fuel gauge is never showing the red LED any more.
It counts down from 4 green lights down to one green light but never goes to red anymore. It still does the same milage before cutting back to petrol so just seems like the float might be sticking when it gets near to the bottom?
Does anyone know if this is something I could fix myself? Would a new level sensor/float mechanism be required? I guess its not a hole in the float otherwise it would be reading the fuel level as being low and not high? And what do I need to think about if I do have to change the mechanism?
Many thanks for any help.
Mark

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:19 pm
by Gilbertd
Might be a sticking float, they do that when they start to get a bit worn (they can also jump a tooth on the gears that drive the level sender). Or it might be a poor earth connection on the level sender at the tank.

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 3:30 pm
by BigM
Thanks for the speedy reply....I don't think it will have jumped a tooth as the first green light still goes out after doing about 60 miles....the same as it has always done.
So guess it may just be sticking as the float gets nearer the bottom of the tank......are they much work to remove and would it be a good idea just to swap with a new one or are they something that could just be freed up?
Many thanks for the help.

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 4:15 pm
by rossko
BigM wrote: the first green light still goes out after doing about 60 miles....the same as it has always done.
Aha, if all the green lights go out it is not a sender issue. Just a busted red LED I think.

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 4:30 pm
by Gilbertd
Depends if they all go out or if the last green stays on. Mine has always dropped down to the red LED after about 100-110 miles even though I've still get enough gas for another 100 miles left in the tank. A few months ago it suddenly started to show the last green right up until I ran out. I checked that the gauge on the tank was reading correctly then looked at the wiring. The earth connection for the gauge sender and tank solenoid ran to the front of the car and were connected to the earth side of the vap solenoid. This was then earthed to the body of the vap using one of those horrible plastic insulated squash flat crimps. As soon as I touched that, the wire fell out of the crimp. I ran a new earth wire from the vap solenoid directly back to the battery negative which sorted the level gauge and cured a very occasional (so occasional that I hadn't even thought to look at it) dying on changeover problem.

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 4:30 pm
by BigM
No I end up with one green light, it used to go to a red light when nearing empty but now my last green light stays on a lot longer and never goes red. So I run out of gas when I still have one green light on.
Cheers

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 4:36 pm
by BigM
The engine has been out recently and replaced so maybe an earth has been disturbed as you suggested....just presumed it was gonna be a dodgy sticking float. Maybe I'll bash the tank a few times when almost out of gas to see if it then changes to red light? lol

Re: Prins system fuel gauge no red LED.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 7:53 pm
by Gilbertd
See what the manual gauge on the tank reads. If it reads nearly empty, it's electrical, if it's not reading below 1/4, it's mechanical inside the tank.