Fuel gauge calibration

[PeterO]

On the way home tonight the "low fuel" light came on at 200 miles.

Gauge was reading nearly to the bottom of the red.



I've done over 220 miles on a tank full before so I wasn't worried as I was only about 5 miles from home (and a supermarket filling station).



I'm sure over the year I've had the bike ('05) the point on the gauge where the warning light comes on has dropped from the top of the red section to the bottom of the red section.



When I filled up, I could only get 19.5 litres in the tank.



Does anyone know if the gauge can be recalibrated by a dealer ?



Peter

[jp4evr]

great question - i've been at 250 miles and had the needle well below red for some time and no light has come on.  When i filled up, i still had 15% of capacity remaining.

[BykBoy]

.



Does anyone know if the gauge can be recalibrated by a dealer ?



Peter

I don't know about re-calibration, but when I asked my dealer to fix the same problem, he tried to talk me into replacing the sender unit. He said the unit is problematic and unreliable. He wanted $75 for the unit and probably one hour of labor. I decided not to go with the new unit. So now I just use the trip milage. More reliabe and saved me $150 or so...

[PeterO]

So now I just use the trip milage. More reliabe and saved me $150 or so...

Yes that's what I tend to look at.  But there is always that nagging thought going through your mind.... "Did I remember to reset the trip when I filled up or did I only remember to do it a few miles afterwards ?"



I think I was pretty safe a 220 miles on the trip.  If all 24 litres of the capacity are useable, then I calculated I could manage over 260 miles on a tank full, but that would be cutting it a bit too fine for confort I think.



Peter

[bwvtom]

:) Hi Peter, I have a 2001 955i and not long after purchasing the bike (it had 4000 kms on it) I actually ran out of fuel (luckily I was in the city at the time and not far from a servo); (sometimes you have to get lucky!).  



The fuel warning light flickered on 2 seconds before the motor died, I pushed it the 2 kms to the servo, :oops: , and when refilling, the tank took exactly 24 litres.  So now I know how much it holds.



I talked to the dealer as it was still under warrantee; they replaced the fuel sender unit free of charge but did warn me that they had found that they were not accurate at the best of times.

So far I havenÌt had the warning light come on again even though the gauge is in the red for quite some time.



I now use the trip meter as a guide as well, what I can tell you is that fuel range is around 400 kms per tank touring, and around 390 kms city commuting (these are average figures).



Cheers B-burl.

[ThreePutt]

The last time I filled up, the gauge still read empty for about 5 miles after. About the time I started thinking, this sucks, my gauge is busted, the needle made it's SLOW assent to full.



Has this ever happened to any of you?

[BykBoy]

The last time I filled up, the gauge still read empty for about 5 miles after. About the time I started thinking, this sucks, my gauge is busted, the needle made it's SLOW assent to full.



Has this ever happened to any of you?

My needle sometimes drops to empty right after filling out. Sometimes it goes back and forth between full and empty. It gets better if I open the fuel cap and close it again or after about 20 miles. Not sure why this happens, but I'm not going to spend the money on a new sender, knowing it's probably going to get busted again.

[TigerKen]

The low fuel gauge is not very accurate at best. However, a couple of years of 955 Tigers have a service bulletin that covers the sending unit. If you have a bum sending unit, the dealer can replace the float inside the sending unit under warranty, even if your bike is out of warranty.

[NortonCharlie]

I must be lucky, my fuel guage is always right on.  It takes it a few minutes to move to level after starting it up.  



Full is full

half is pretty much 1/2

the low fuel light comes on when the needle reaches the bottom of the red and I have about 1 gallon left.

The guage continues to move as I burn the reserve and it is empty when the needle hits bottom.



All said and done it is probably the best fuel guage I have ever had.  My bike is an 01 955i.  I ussually run the fuel down till the light comes on unless I am on the road and unsure where I will next find fuel.

[Guest]

I must be lucky, my fuel guage is always right on.  It takes it a few minutes to move to level after starting it up.  



Full is full

half is pretty much 1/2

the low fuel light comes on when the needle reaches the bottom of the red and I have about 1 gallon left.

The guage continues to move as I burn the reserve and it is empty when the needle hits bottom.



All said and done it is probably the best fuel guage I have ever had.  My bike is an 01 955i.  I ussually run the fuel down till the light comes on unless I am on the road and unsure where I will next find fuel.

I don't know about the 1/2 is 1/2 etc.. but all of the 955i tigers I know of have their lights come on after 18 litres have been used.

I do agree that the light seems to come on as the needle reaches the bottom of the red. Seems to me that the calibration should be that the light comes on as the needle hit the top of the red.

As for the best. The one on my old 1984 Yamaha XJ900 was spot on AND stayed on without needing the ignition on.

[PeterO]

I should have kept quiet...



Fuel Gauge has been stuck at 3/4 full for the last 150+ miles  :(

Even filling it up last night didn't sort it out.



Peter O

[cagi]

use the trip every time you fill up you'll know what you should get from each tank 220 avg once it starts dropping below that it's time to change the spark plugs

[PeterO]

Tiger went in for new tyres yesterday, and a new fuel sender (under warantee) , so all fixed now.



Peter O

[MARKC]

Feel a lot happier after reading these posts. I thought there was a problem with the fuel gauge on my 2000 855i as it is wildly inaccurate.It only registers full when the tank is filled but quickly registers empty even with plenty of fuel in the tank.Think I rely on the old fashioned way of keeping an eye on the trip :D