Filled up the tank today and it barely went past the 1/4 marker on the gauge. Possible solutions, anyone?

__________________
Never be ashamed to ask for help.

1985 300D
1987 300SDL
1970 Jaguar E-Type OTS
2002 Dodge Intrepid (Traded In)
2011 Ford Crown Victoria

how often do u drive the car? possible rust maybe on float? algea in tank? is it your DD? if not when did u fill it last? did it slowly climb? or it remained around 1/4.

im really not sure, maybe someone else could chime in, im interested because mine doesnt drop below 1/2

__________________
95 E320 24k
07 E550 4matic 20k Soon to go
1977 240d 481k
2013 SL 600


Non MBs

02 Ford F250 Lariat 4 Quad Cab 7.3 Diesel 95k
01 Chevy Suburban 249K LT 5.3 V8
88 Saab SPG Convertible 32k
06 Lincoln Mark LT 59k
62 VW Bug
52 Bentley Mark IV
53 GMC half Ton Pickup
08 VW Beetle convertible 2k
07 bmw x5 4.8i 17k
03 bmw x5 4.4i 40k
08 Range Rover S 9K

find a West Marine
or order directly from Starbrite.

Star brite Corporate Offices

4041 SW 47th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314 USA
Phone: (954) 587-6280
Toll Free: (800) 327-8583
Fax: (954) 587-2813

Attached Thumbnails

 

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

i've asked this before but did not get a response. I am sure I have algae but I have clean fuel filters all the time. My gauge reads 1/4 empty when I've only used 11 gallons of fuel.

All that said, if I decide to use the tank cleaner won't that let loose a lot of algae and gunk and require me to replace filters, tank screen, and clean fuel lines very soon... as opposed to later?

Algae can be a problem and gum up the works, but the fuel level sender can also be a problem.

Here are 2 write up from the resources articles. one for the W123 and W124. the W126 should be similar.


http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123FuelSender

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W124FuelSender

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

ML,

The Starbrite Product,Startron will break down the dead FUNGUS corpus
(After it kills them) Into such small particles,that they will pass through the
Filters and be burned with the Fuel.

Your problem is that the Dead Fungus Corpus have collected inside your Fuel
Sender Tube and are blocking the normal action of the "Float".

'Ave a look here for the service manual's tests on the Gauge and Sender and
Wiring FIRST!

http://w124-zone.com/viewpage.php?page_id=2

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

Manual Life, I had a similar problem. My fuel gauge would not go below 3/4 full, then the needle would drop to empty and the reserve light would come on, because the tank was almost empty. Usually, the sender is the culprit as others have indicated. I went thru the same process, pulled tank strainer, clean. Pulled sender three times. It work like it should. My fuel gauge was bad. Jeremy 5848 posted an excellent diagnostic procedure for cleaning and testing the sending unit. If the sender tests good, check the grounds on the back of the instrument cluster. Search fuel sender, there is lots of info on this issue.

__________________
1987 300D 146K Original #14 Head
One eye on the road, the other on the temp. gauge

Gone But Not Forgotten
1983 380 SEL Long gone
1983 300SD Wish I hadn't traded it in on a 90' Corvette
1989 300SE My all time favorite
1995 E420 Went like a bullet

I had the same problem and just refurbished two sending units. The float sticks and a fine layer of crud on the wires causes the needle to bounce around, especially below 1/2 tank. If you pull the sender you may notice that the wires may appear clean but will be a gray color, not shiny silver. The DIY writeup describes using steel wool, but I used a small piece of very fine sandpaper, 600 grit I think, to run up and down the wires very, very carefully from several different orientations. Once they are shiny and clean again, and any other crud is cleaned from the various contacts and parts, it should work like new....just be careful about popping the wires so you don't have to solder them (with mixed results). The small springy contacts on the float also accumulate crud and should be cleaned with a pointy device. I ground the middle out of an old screwdriver to have a special tool to unscrew the end.

Its very rewarding to see that needle stationary and where it should be when you're done.

__________________
1983 CD
1958 Studebaker Packard (being resuscitated)

Tanksowner,

The problem could be in your screen name - try changing it and see if the problem resolves.

Sincerely,

Tankowner

Just kidding. Well, guess I'll have to start going by my real name now.

__________________
'95 E300D ("Tank") - 231,000 miles
'79 240D ("Biscuit") - 197,250 miles (Sold)
'83 240D ("Ding-Ding") - 217,000 miles (Death by deer)
______________________________________

"Back off, man. I’m a scientist” ~ Peter Venkman

I had two problems. First I pulled the sender and cleaned out the glop it had accumulated. It helped, but the gauge still jumped around, so I pulled the cluster and cleaned up all the contacts and grounds. Problem solved.

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'82 300SD - Somewhere over 220k - Becoming reliable...

Hahaha! I thought my name was original, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking someone else has to have referred to their own car as "Tank". Last night, Tank stranded me at a friends house. The battery died on me, even though it's brand new. My guess is that it's the alternator, but any thoughts? The fuel gauge situation seems to have resolved itself as quickly as it appeared.

__________________
Never be ashamed to ask for help.

1985 300D
1987 300SDL
1970 Jaguar E-Type OTS
2002 Dodge Intrepid (Traded In)
2011 Ford Crown Victoria

Hi guys. I am actually having a similar issue on a 95 E300D of mine with 97 thousand on the odometer, the needle seems to work ok, it just will not go under a little over the last quart of fuel. (The reserve light works and lights up when ignition key is inserted and in position 2 like all of the other lights)

The issue seemed to appear after the dash was pulled apart for an evaporator replacement. I am not sure if it is a coincident at this point.

Any light shed will definetly be apreciated guys.

regards.

__________________
CM

Anybody have a schematic of the gauge? I'm thinking my problem is in the gauge and not probably not sending unit, and thought about maybe pulling it and testing with a multi meter but it won't do much good unless I have values to compare to the readings

__________________
1982 300D Turbodiesel, daily driver. Mods so far: Fram 8038 paper filter, 4 brake light mod, Gen II w126 (front) rotors/calipers, boost turned up to 12lbs, non-egr manifolds, water/methanol injection, 4-speed manual
1980 300SD Turbodiesel, project car, nearly ready to hit the street

1974 240D, New paint