After 22 years of a fuel gauge growing steadily less accurate, to the point of it not registering anything at all for the last few years, I resolved to do a bit of investigating.

Out with the sender unit, off with the cover, and I was confronted with this:

[Linked Image]

So a new one has been duly ordered from SVC at the princely sum of £40. I ran my tank as dry as I dared (270 miles) on the way back from Portsmouth on Tuesday, and did a dip test to see how much fuel I had left - 80mm. With a tank of around 700mm x 300mm at the base, that's around 17 litres. I don't know exactly how far off the bottom of the tank the fuel pickup sits, but I reckon I've probably got a good 10 litres in reserve if I set the new sender to register empty at this level.

Tim H.
1986 4/4 VVTi Sport, 2002 LR Defender, 2022 Mini Cooper SE