Damned petrol guage

[Jim S]

This damned guage is annoying me now. An 04 Tiger with 16,000 miles, the guage started acting up in France a couple of months ago, when you fill the bike it reads empty and the petrol light comes on.



This seems to be getting worse, the guage is quite often vague and the warning light keeps coming on. This is a major pain in the dark. A bright orange light in the dash catches your eye continuously in the dark.



I trip the speedo at fills so I know roughly how much is in the bike but after a while the warning light makes you paranoid in case you run out.



Anyone had similar issues? Is there a fix? And would a new sender be any better? As it's just over two years old I'd have hoped it lasted longer.



Any comments appreciated.

[pansmiker]

Same problem with Oct 04 fuel gauge. My dealer tried a "fix" before putting in a warranty claim.

The gauge did work after a fashion but as the bike was still in warranty the dealer decided to do the proper fix with a new sender.



paul

[cbxtc6]

Same thing with mine.  New sender unit costs US$80.  I put tape over the dash light, and use my trip meter.

[2004Tiger]

I have recently replaced my sender because of a constant empty indication. The sender is a tube with a float sliding inside up and down. The float sticks, usually at the empty location.



OK, I lied. I replaced the sender because I ruptured the wire seal when I removed the tank. Easy to do the first time because I didn't know about all of the connections, and the tank was full of fuel. But the float was also sticking.



The float is a dense foam cylinder which can be carved with a knife. Next time I will remove the sender and shake the float out of the tube, then carve the float a little to provide more clearance and eliminate sticking. You could try this and post a report. Alternative is to buy new, so nothing lost.



First remove the tank, taking care to NOT pull on the sender wire (disconnect it before lifting the tank). The sender is located at the right rear lowest part of the tank, so an empty tank is required to remove it, or maybe you could lay the tank on its side if less than 1/2 tankfull.

[iansoady]

I have exactly the same problem which I have temporarily "cured" by fitting a 93 ohm (IIRC) resistor in place of the sender which turns the light off and shows full all the time (at least it did till coming down the M6 today in horrendous rain where I think it got a bit damp....), meanwhile using the trip.



I too dismantled mine when I had the tank off to do something else, and I also carved the float a bit as well as drilling some holes in it up from the bottom but not reaching the top to give a bit more flotation. It seemed to work OK for a couple of tankfuls but then reverted to permanently empty so I'm back to the fixed resistor till I take the tank off again.



AFAIK the way it works is that the central PCB has magnetic switches which are sequentially closed by the little magnet in the float thus giving different resistance. My current hypothesis is that the lowest one is intermittently closing itself. I'll have another look when I do the valves in the winter.

[2004Tiger]

Ian, thanks for the input. Let me add a little more. When I removed my wire-damaged sender the float was stuck on the bottom. Violent shaking and tapping caused it to become free and then it would slide when tipped. If I banged the float to the top it would stick there also.



My new sender float slid freely up and down the PCB if handled gently. If shook violently it would stick either at the top or bottom, but tapping would free it. Be gentle. I carved the float so that it never sticks at the top, but I can't SEE what it sticks on at the bottom. Only one tankfull since installing the new sender, and all's well, but time will tell.

[En_svensk_Tiger]

Hi,



This is a standard problem on the Tigers.

I had exactly the same problem on my 2005 at about 6000 km on the clock. Stopped working beginning of August. Warranty went out in May, as the bike was two years old.

However, I was lucky - my dealer called the Triumph agent in Sweden and they agreed to fix it as a warranty matter anyway. For free of course.

Try talking to your local dealer. Maybe they will throw some goodwill at the States as well.



Good luck!

[iansoady]

I'm afraid my local dealer (in the UK) is a complete waste of space. The odd thing about my gauge, and the reason I suspect one of the switches, is that it will suddenly read zero (and the light come on) when there is at least half a tank left. So unless the float sank of its own volition I can't see it sticking as it wouldn't be at the bottom anyway.



Mine did seem to slide up & down quite freely.



Hey ho, I'll just have to continue using the trip, although in torrential rain yesterday it would have been easier to see the fuel gauge......

[Jim S]

Thanks for all the replies guys, seems like a known issue to me?



I can't see a new one being the answer, if it's the same, then a couple of yrs down the line and it's another one. I haven't priced one but sure it won't be cheap. I'll see how I feel over the Winter, I might try a new one.



Thanks again.

[klingklang]

mine seems to work well in a normal stop and go day.  But on a long distance, it seems that it is going down way faster. If I stop the bike for and cut the engine for a minutes or two and then start it back, it reach the right place. Kind of reset.  



Since I saw this thread this morning, I was asking myself if this kind of sender may be found on some other brands of motorcycle and can be fitted on ours.   Next time you remove one, please post picture here with some dims.  I found that on the web. base on what I read above, is it like the second from the top, second from the left.

http://www.chaolong.com.tw/cl/products/other/sender-e.htm

[iansoady]

It's not like any of them. It consists of a vertical plastic tube about 20cm long and about 20mm diameter. In this is fixed a vertical slice of circuit board material about 10mm wide, which has devices attached to it which I surmise are magnetic switches. The float is a cylindrical device about 40mm long, a loose sliding fit in the tube and over the circuit board, with a piece of metal inside it which I believe is a magnet.



There are holes in the bottom of the tube to allow fuel in & out, and a snap-fit plastic cap to keep the float from falling out if you upend your bike :shock:

[Jim S]

My guage is so inaccurate I don't think it's the float part that's causing the issue, it's like a poor connection, somethimes when full it reads in the red, as far as put the light on occasionally. Toward the bottom quarter it does the same, seems to read best between 50 miles from full to 150 from full, both ends of the tank seems to give most problems with the guage. Could be an electrical fault rather than mechanical?



Just a thought.

[thylacine]

Yet another reason I am glad I chose the right colour.  ie. a faultless 04' BLACK Tiger



In fact my orange light always comes on in the 350 -360 km range

(when touring; 45 000 km on bike)

[iansoady]

Could be an electrical fault rather than mechanical?



Just a thought.

That's why I think mine is one of the switches making contact when it shouldn't.

Yet another reason I am glad I chose the right colour. ie. a faultless 04' BLACK Tiger

Mine too is black and 04. I'd hesitate to call it faultless but it's pretty good really.







OK, it's absolutely great!