Hi folks
A few folks have suggested this is a stock fault, but nobody has come up with a definite answer at all.
Car:
March 2001 Xsara 2.0 HDi - not multiplexed wiring AFAIK, but no idea how to check this!
Fault:
Fuel gauge either works correctly or is about 1/4 too low; when this happens it seems to stay like it until next used.
As there's no Haynes manual for the later Xsara, I cannot see how it's all wired and therefore what to check.
I don't want to start replacing things ad hoc until it's cured - I'll leave that sort of thing to the dealers. I am fine with electronics, BTW.
Any ideas, folks?
Xsara fuel gauge problems - is this a common fault?
Moderator: RichardW
- uhn113x
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1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension. - x 1
Xsara fuel gauge problems - is this a common fault?
Last edited by uhn113x on 22 Aug 2010, 14:18, edited 1 time in total.
Mike in West Yorks
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
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If it's a pre-faclift Xsara (ie with the small head lamps) then it is not multiplexed. If it's got the big headlights, then it will be.
Does the odometer continue to read the correct distance travelled when the speedo is playing up? If it does then you can rule out the speed sensor, if it doesn't then it's probably the speed sensor. If you think it is not the speed sensor then it is most likely the pins where the speedo head is soldered onto the instrument panel PCB. This makes the speedo reading erratic - often hanging at 50 regardless of actual speed. The one in my Xantia reads what it likes most of the time, and can swing from actual speed to 50 and back at will. I just ignore it and use the tacho instead - maybe one day I'll get it out and solder it up, but then I've been saying that for 60k miles now, so maybe not!
Does the odometer continue to read the correct distance travelled when the speedo is playing up? If it does then you can rule out the speed sensor, if it doesn't then it's probably the speed sensor. If you think it is not the speed sensor then it is most likely the pins where the speedo head is soldered onto the instrument panel PCB. This makes the speedo reading erratic - often hanging at 50 regardless of actual speed. The one in my Xantia reads what it likes most of the time, and can swing from actual speed to 50 and back at will. I just ignore it and use the tacho instead - maybe one day I'll get it out and solder it up, but then I've been saying that for 60k miles now, so maybe not!
Richard W
- uhn113x
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1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension. - x 1
Apologies, Richard, and a d'oh moment!
I said "speedo" for some strange reason whereas I should have said "fuel gauge".
Crawling back under my stone!
It is multiplexed, then . Is there a wiring diagram avaliable at all, without spending a fortune, as I'm a complete newbie regarding these things.
I said "speedo" for some strange reason whereas I should have said "fuel gauge".
Crawling back under my stone!
It is multiplexed, then . Is there a wiring diagram avaliable at all, without spending a fortune, as I'm a complete newbie regarding these things.
Mike in West Yorks
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
Thats not quite right the late ph1 xsaras were multiplexed also.RichardW wrote:If it's a pre-faclift Xsara (ie with the small head lamps) then it is not multiplexed.
As far as the fuel gauge goes im afraid this is a quirk of the xsara, if you replace every component involved in the circuit it will still operate the same. The gauge takes an initial reading off the sender in the tank then the ECU calculates a theoretical usage & adjusts the gauge, needless to say it doesent always tally up with the sender reading hence why you get erratic readings.
- uhn113x
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1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension. - x 1
Thanks, wheeler, that's finally answered my question.
That sounds like a typical bit of "progress" - if it ain't broke, it's too simple, so we'll get the design team to find a complex solution that will never work properly!
What was wrong with a bit of wire and a rheostat, one asks?
That sounds like a typical bit of "progress" - if it ain't broke, it's too simple, so we'll get the design team to find a complex solution that will never work properly!
What was wrong with a bit of wire and a rheostat, one asks?
Mike in West Yorks
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
- uhn113x
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: 06 Jan 2004, 22:06
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1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension. - x 1
Thanks, they sure look like a few good DJ's!
From what wheeler says about how it works, though, I might just leave it at that and live with it.
I'd love to see some sort of diagram / explanation on this multiplexed wiring, though.
I'm not a complete duffer on the subject as I used to repair, write books and teach TV / radio / video in a previous life.
From what wheeler says about how it works, though, I might just leave it at that and live with it.
I'd love to see some sort of diagram / explanation on this multiplexed wiring, though.
I'm not a complete duffer on the subject as I used to repair, write books and teach TV / radio / video in a previous life.
Mike in West Yorks
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
- uhn113x
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: 06 Jan 2004, 22:06
- Location: Near Leeds, United Kingdom
- My Cars: 1981 Dyane - on road all year round.
1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension. - x 1
Ah, but from what you said above, it's a design fault and they all do it.
I think the only solution would be to redesign it, and there aren't enough hours in the day for that; retirement takes up all my 25 hours of each 8 day week!
However, if someone had a sender and gauge from a scrappy, it would be tempting to see what happened if I started to go back to a simple solution ... any offers?
I think the only solution would be to redesign it, and there aren't enough hours in the day for that; retirement takes up all my 25 hours of each 8 day week!
However, if someone had a sender and gauge from a scrappy, it would be tempting to see what happened if I started to go back to a simple solution ... any offers?
Mike in West Yorks
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
1982 GSA Pallas
1982 Dyane
1997 ZX Dimension
- Paul-R
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That's not the way my Xsara behaves so I suspect it's age dependant.wheeler wrote:The gauge takes an initial reading off the sender in the tank then the ECU calculates a theoretical usage & adjusts the gauge, needless to say it doesent always tally up with the sender reading hence why you get erratic readings.
On the 2001 Xsara it's very much like cars used to be.
After a filling to the brim there's quite a delay before the needle moves off the full mark. This then becomes a benchmark to me of how the consumption is going for this tankful. 80 miles is not good, 100 miles is good and anything more than that is exceptional. The 3/4 mark should be reached when about 180 - 220 miles has been covered and by 1/2 way I need to have covered 300 miles in order to be averaging around 50mpg.
The C5 behaves exactly as Wheeler says and it's crap. I really hate it and I wish that I could change whetever it is in the ECU so that the reading is passed on from the TSU straight to the gauge. It's ridiculous that a so-called improvement should be such a negative move. A triumph of "we can do do it so let's" I think.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.
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Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.
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- myglaren
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Ooops.
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I have never had any problems with my fuel gauge but I always brim it when the low fuel warning appears, rather than incremental fills more frequently.Paul-R wrote: The C5 behaves exactly as Wheeler says and it's crap. I really hate it and I wish that I could change whetever it is in the ECU so that the reading is passed on from the TSU straight to the gauge. It's ridiculous that a so-called improvement should be such a negative move. A triumph of "we can do do it so let's" I think.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Probably will now, of course
- Paul-R
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2001 2.0 HDi 90 Xsara Estate (Gone) - x 1379
And that's another thing I hate about the C5 fuel gauge - it just completely ignores a 5 litre top-up from the spare fuel can if the light has just come on. On the Xsara it'll go out as it should.myglaren wrote:..I always brim it when the low fuel warning appears, rather than incremental fills more frequently...
I really would like to shake the designer of this "feature" until his tooth fillings rattle.
As I get older I think a lot about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.
Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.
"Trying is the first step towards failure" ~ Homer J Simpson
Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.
"Trying is the first step towards failure" ~ Homer J Simpson