Fuel gauge/light problem?

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ShawTD4eXS

New Member
Posts
6
Location
Flintshire, Wales
so, I picked up my Freelander 2 TD4e XS yesterday from Nottingham, stuck £30 in as it was just above the red mark. Got back to north wales with no problems but seemed to use almost a quarter of a tank doing around 110miles, mostly motorway, 50-70mph, keeping the mpg as high as possible.

Anyway, today on the return from work, the fuel light came on, much to my surprise.. I had just under quarter of a tank, and I mean, literally just under. The trip computer said I had 56miles range.
How does that work?!
I read the fuel tank holds a good 650miles of fuel when full. Yet a quarter of a tank warrants the fuel light and a 50 odd mile range?

Can anyone offer advice, I’m not happy considering only picking it up yesterday
 
Fill it up , do 300 miles, fill it up again ( using the same pump if possible) and write how much you used, then do it again.

Average the two out and see what your MPG is.

Then do it for the rest of the year. Make it a fun game.

Cheers
 
The mpg doesn’t really bother me at this stage. It’s more to the point that the fuel level was at quarter of a tank when the light came on, is that normal for freelander 2s?!
 
Tank slapping and inaccurate fuel gauge reading. Generally the float lever never touches the bottom as it would damage. So result would have a gallon or less slopping about but not register. With the fuel at quarter your at the cusp for tank slapping which allows the gauge to bob to much. Never trust a gauge only record weekly use and average millage from last fill up.
 
saxavordian said:
Tank slapping and inaccurate fuel gauge reading. Generally the float lever never touches the bottom as it would damage. So result would have a gallon or less slopping about but not register. With the fuel at quarter your at the cusp for tank slapping which allows the gauge to bob to much. Never trust a gauge only record weekly use and average millage from last fill up.
Click to expand...


Ok, sounds like a logical theory.
Confirmed my suspicions from trawling through old threads
So is there any way of changing to an aftermarket fuel level float or is it just something freelander related that I will have to learn to live with?
 
You have to fill it up anyway so keep it topped up. I assume you don't need to travel 600+ miles between garages. If you get stuck in a traffic jam for several hours you would thank me for that advice.
 
Stv123 said:
You have to fill it up anyway so keep it topped up. I assume you don't need to travel 600+ miles between garages. If you get stuck in a traffic jam for several hours you would thank me for that advice.
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It’s not that, I will be keeping it topped up.
It’s more the fact of all the fuel gauge issues I’ve read about that bother me, like randomly dropping to the red and cutting out, having to call roadside assistance.. etc etc
There must be a reason for this issue, hence me posting
 
Mine comes on at just bellow 1/4 but just once I had to drive when the computer estimated I only had 12 miles range. So I assume mycomputer is correct but I would not like to risk it other than an emergency. If you worried I would leave the computer displaying "range" and see if you get consistent results.
 
The range is an average of previous consumption. If the car has done lots of idling, low fuel economy journeys etc then it uses this for the range calculation.
 
td4van said:
The range is an average of previous consumption. If the car has done lots of idling, low fuel economy journeys etc then it uses this for the range calculation.
Click to expand...

Oh I’m very conditioned when it comes to economy driving. Used to do courier work and my boss was a penny grabber when it came to me trawling the motorways of the U.K.
Also owned a golf BlueMotion before this land rover purchase.
It’s as more to see if the trip computer was in sync with the fuel level, which it isn’t at all. Especially after saying I had 50 miles in range, but with quarter of a tank!


Anyway, after lots more research, and speaking to a couple of local Land Rover “specialists”. They’ve said it’s most likely the fuel sender that needs replacing.

Has anyone had a similar issue and found a replacement to fix it?
 
ShawTD4eXS said:
Anyway, after lots more research, and speaking to a couple of local Land Rover “specialists”. They’ve said it’s most likely the fuel sender that needs replacing.
Click to expand...
If the gauge is showing a level, then I can't see that replacement of the fuel level sensor is going to solve it. The remaining range of the available fuel is calculated, from the same information that the gauge is displaying.
 
Nodge68 said:
If the gauge is showing a level, then I can't see that replacement of the fuel level sensor is going to solve it. The remaining range of the available fuel is calculated, from the same information that the gauge is displaying.
Click to expand...


That’s a fair point, so what would be causing it to be giving me a fuel light with a quarter tank, and the range telling me I have 50 miles?
 
ShawTD4eXS said:
That’s a fair point, so what would be causing it to be giving me a fuel light with a quarter tank, and the range telling me I have 50 miles?
Click to expand...

No idea, but it might be worth getting a diagnostic done on it. It does seem a very strange fault.
 
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