Sister's car ran out of fuel?????? WHY?? -- MK5 Golf, 1.9TDI -- (ITS HAPPENED AGAIN! ) See last post.

[RickT]

Hi,

Got an SOS call earlier this evening from my younger sister saying her 1.9 TDI 105 had broke down at a set of traffic lights on a slight hill... (after telling her not to worry and just put the hazards on and i will be there in 5-10 mins!!

Once arrived i managed to roll it back onto the pavement out of harms way and begin assessment..

First of all, tried to start it... the engine was turning over but not firing....

Got the multi meter from the boot thinking to start with it could be the alternator due to it cutting out (if the alternate fails on these they just cut out and don't start even with a full battery)

Checked Battery... 12.9V.. perfect..

Checked Alternator plug.. perfect... tired to start while reading the battery voltage, dropped to 10v as expected following a few trys.. but returned to 12v..

ANYWAY..

After looking about and not been able to find out what was going on.. i said how much fuel is in it??

She replied that the petrol light has come on about 8 - 10 miles ago BUT the DIS states that there is 40 miles left in the tank..

The needle was in the red but there was enough movement while reading fuel...

Any.. nipped to BP, purchased a gerry can and 5 liters of their finest diesel, poured into tank and primed on the basis of out of fuel..

Primed around 6 times or so.. still didnt start..

Left the car for 5 minutes while my sister called the AA to get a recovery as i told her i could not tow her due to her not having the brake servo or power steering and she not having being strong enough to control it..

ANYWAY>..... (again)

I tried the car again and it fired after leaving it for 5-10 mins fine... the DIS moved to 45 miles in tank...

Took the car to the petrol station and topped up with £40.00 and all seems out now... got her to "blast it" to clear any crap pulled through..


SO AFTER THE MASSIVE POST>...

Anyone seen the DIS reporting more miles than whats in the tank... i know see does drive very gently and the DIS on my A4 is an average of the last 20 miles... but surly if it was going to run out this will of dropped...

From writing the above... I am thinking it could be an issue with the Immobilizer maybe???????

Any advice much apperaicted...

Ps.. is the MK5 on CAN bus?? or will my ODB2 from the A4 -B6 work on it via VAG-COM?

Rick

[RickT]

Any thoughts on the above?

Cheers

Rick

[Nutty]

Hi,


She replied that the petrol light has come on about 8 - 10 miles ago BUT the DIS states that there is 40 miles left in the tank..


Any.. nipped to BP, purchased a gerry can and 5 liters of their finest diesel, poured into tank and primed on the basis of out of fuel..


Took the car to the petrol station and topped up with £40.00 and all seems out now... got her to "blast it" to clear any crap pulled through..

Rick

Is it petrol or Diesel ? The Mk 5 is canbus, it does sound like an immobiliser problem, a vagcom check should see what had happened

[elPaulio]

Hey Rick,

Yeah, the Mk5 is CAN-Bus unfortunately!

Haven't heard of the DIS saying there's more in the tank. Have heard that it can be re-calibrated to the correct fuel level, although I think that was on an A4, but the theory would still stand. If I remember rightly, your sister only got this a wee while ago didn't she?

If so I would take it back to the garage and tell them and see what they come up with!!

Sorry I can't be more help!

Paul

[RickT]

Hey Rick,

Yeah, the Mk5 is CAN-Bus unfortunately!

Haven't heard of the DIS saying there's more in the tank. Have heard that it can be re-calibrated to the correct fuel level, although I think that was on an A4, but the theory would still stand. If I remember rightly, your sister only got this a wee while ago didn't she?

If so I would take it back to the garage and tell them and see what they come up with!!

Sorry I can't be more help!

Paul

Cheers for that, i thought it was going to be CAN-BUS..

Yeah she only got it around a month back...

She has not had any issues since filling it... For some reason i still think it was a fuel issue...

She said she had been queuing on the hill for around 5 mins, its pretty steep and i guess if the fuel has sat at the rear of the tank it could of just ran dry.....

Does anyone know where the "feed" is on the tank?? front, middle or rear of the fuel tank??

Cheers for the input.

Rick

[RickT]

Hi All,


The car has done it again today, not sure if its FUEL related as yet.. just going to go and check the car.

The DIS is saying 50 miles still left in tank, and wont start.

Going to head up with the code reading and see what it reports back.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

Rick

[mossy1.9tdi]

Hi All,


The car has done it again today, not sure if its FUEL related as yet.. just going to go and check the car.

The DIS is saying 50 miles still left in tank, and wont start.

Going to head up with the code reading and see what it reports back.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

Rick

have you checked the fuel pump is working properly?

[Col]

You need to brim fill it to work how how much fuel was left in the tank before you condem the DIS.

My thoughts though would be that the fuel lift pump / tandem pump is weak. There is nothing in the tank, the pump is fitted on the head at the end of the cam.

Also, how old is it, how many miles, has the fuel filter been changed?

Also, there isn't a big dent in the plastic fuel tank ?

[RickT]

Hello,

Checked the fault codes on the car, no codes were stored.

I primed the fuel pump by turning the ignation on and off a around half a dozen times, then tried to start it..

After around 10-15 seconds or trying to start i got it to start and run... (with a nice black cloud of smoke..

Left it running for a few minutes and knocked it off and on a few times, works perfect..

Put in 10 liters of fuel, DIS now shows 100 miles, and the car seems fine..

So... what i need to do, get VAG-COM onto it and check the readings for the sender unit.

My guess is the sender unit is reporting an incorrect vaule to the DIS.

I think on VAG-COM you can compare both of these vaules to ensure they are the same.

Has anyone had this issue before??

The car is a 54 plate 1.9tdi 105 with 60k on the clock, (Cam belt & pump has been changed before anyone advises.)

I also have a 1.9tdi Golf, same year same mileage, (even built within 2 months of each other) and i have had that done to 20 miles in tank before.....


The funny thing is.... recently my sister has said the fuel gauge has been lower and DIS saying 35 miles and its been OK..

This time the fuel LIGHT did not even come on.??


Cheers

Rick

[mossy1.9tdi]

Could be a lot of s**t in the tank so when it gets low ends up sucking the s**t into the lines blocking fuel from flowing thorugh.

What petrol station do you use??

[RickT]

Shell or Esso,

I dont think its the quality of fuel thats the problem,

My Dads off to brim the tank so we can work out how much fuel was in there, is..

Does anyone know the MAX amount of litres of fuel you can get in the tank??

I have not looked as yet... but I recall it been a 55 litre tank ?? (whats the most fuel you have managed to get in it, is the question i guess!)



Cheers

Rick

[mossy1.9tdi]

well if you happen to be filling your car up while the lorries filling the petrol station tanks it mixes all the sh*t in the tanks and u can end up gettin a tank for of cr*p. happened to my brothers pick up

[kenney]

The fuel gauge can be adapted by way of the instrument cluster 17 adaption 10 and channel 30.The standard reading is128,and can be adjusted from min 120 to max 136 which is equivalant of 16 ohms

[RickT]

The fuel gauge can be adapted by way of the instrument cluster 17 adaption 10 and channel 30.The standard reading is128,and can be adjusted from min 120 to max 136 which is equivalant of 16 ohms

Hi Kenny,

Thakns for your reply, Would you be able to expalin in a little more depth what factors are adjusted when you amend from the default of 128?

Thank you.

Rick

[kenney]

128 is not a default,it is a standard setting of the gauge,from the factory.When you change the value i.e from 128 to 129,you increase the internal resistance of the gauge by 1 ohm.The proper method to adjust the gauge it is by emptying the tank,filling 5 litre,then adjust the gauge reading,by changing the value.I take it the gauge is showing too much,which would mean,you need to increase the value

[RickT]

It would appear that the gauge is showing too much and DIS miles to empty.

Could it be a faulty sender unit or would it be a case of it working or not working??

Rick

[kenney]

If the sender unit has a bad earth,it woulld not work correct,but normally, the sender,either works or it doesn't.If the gauge and the DIS do not correspond,then the fault i imagine would be the instrument cluster.Rather than replace the instrument cluster,i would,adjust the gauge,and disregard the DIS

[RickT]

But the thing is, the gauge showed just before the red, and the DIS showed 45 miles left which would normally be correct comparing it to my 1.9tdi Golf, (same year) just that no fuel was in it...

I am going to have to get hold of someone viaa full version of VAG-COM to read it.

Cheers

Rick

[kenney]

Quote It would appear that the gauge is showing too much and DIS miles to empty.
Quote But the thing is, the gauge showed just before the red, and the DIS showed 45 miles left You are confusing me :confused:

[RickT]

Ok, sorry.. i will explain

When the issue occurred, the gauge needle was just above the "RED" and the DIS (Driver information System) shown 45 miles of fuel remaining.

Rick

[Ben]

Does anyone know the MAX amount of litres of fuel you can get in the tank??

I have not looked as yet... but I recall it been a 55 litre tank ?? (whats the most fuel you have managed to get in it, is the question i guess!)


for reference, i had 5 miles remaining today and managed to squeeze 55.28 ltrs in

[RickT]

for reference, i had 5 miles remaining today and managed to squeeze 55.28 ltrs in

Thanks for that Ben

Rick

[kebabtank]

Hello Rick, in my opinion you cannot trust the miles left reading in the car. They simply are not accurate enough; and that includes pretty much any other make. I have exactly the same car as your sisters and I never leave it to chance. Ordinarily, I'll fill up before it reaches a quarter of a tank, at worst, when the light comes on, It's straight to the filling station.

[RickT]

Hello Rick, in my opinion you cannot trust the miles left reading in the car. They simply are not accurate enough; and that includes pretty much any other make. I have exactly the same car as your sisters and I never leave it to chance. Ordinarily, I'll fill up before it reaches a quarter of a tank, at worst, when the light comes on, It's straight to the filling station.

The problem here is that it runs out before the light comes on...

Where as my Golf, is fine even down to 25 miles left in tank..

Rick

[shark_90]

Did you ever do a fill up to see how much went into the tank? kenney has already mentioned what I'd do which is adapt the gauge to read less than what it does now. Someone may have altered it in the past perhaps?

[RickT]

Did you ever do a fill up to see how much went into the tank? kenney has already mentioned what I'd do which is adapt the gauge to read less than what it does now. Someone may have altered it in the past perhaps?

I have not had chance to do it for her as yet..

it used to be ok, so may guess its the fuel gauge sender unit at fault,

Could amend the setting, but would that not be just masking an issue?

Cheers

Rick