Hello Fellow Magna Owners

I own a Magna Advance 2003 3.5L auto. Since last week the fuel gauge has gone crazy. The fuel light is on and the gauge is weird. I tried to fill the tank last week. It only took 33 litres and the gauge went to full and the fuel light went off. I travelled about 120kms and then the gauge went to empty and the light came on. Yesterday I tried to fill the tank, it only took 19 litres and the gauge went to full. Can anyone give me some advice on what the problem might be and how I can fix it.

Regards

Lindsay Ernst

search for fuel sender replacement.

cheapish part from Mitsu (about $100) and 10 minutes to fit yourself. Mitsu (or a mechanic) will probably charge an hour's labour to fit it.

cheers,
.wook

search for fuel sender replacement.

cheapish part from Mitsu (about $100) and 10 minutes to fit yourself. Mitsu (or a mechanic) will probably charge an hour's labour to fit it.

cheers,
.wook

As Wook said it'll be your fuel sender unit, very common issue for 3rd gens. My car just hit 105k kms on it's original, must be a record or something :P.

As Wook said it'll be your fuel sender unit, very common issue for 3rd gens. My car just hit 105k kms on it's original, must be a record or something :P.

*touch wood* mine's going strong at 149000km.....

Hello Fellow Magna Owners

I own a Magna Advance 2003 3.5L auto. Since last week the fuel gauge has gone crazy. The fuel light is on and the gauge is weird. I tried to fill the tank last week. It only took 33 litres and the gauge went to full and the fuel light went off. I travelled about 120kms and then the gauge went to empty and the light came on. Yesterday I tried to fill the tank, it only took 19 litres and the gauge went to full. Can anyone give me some advice on what the problem might be and how I can fix it.

Regards

Lindsay Ernst

Mine's (2003 TL LS) at 120,000km and has just started to fail in exactly the same way. Buying the part (MR933626) today and hoping to replace my faulty sender unit per millert85's excellent (Haynes-like even) DIY instructions here: http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?p=766780#post766780

Guys, I just went out during my lunch break and bought my 3rd gen magna fuel sender unit (part no MR933626) from Phil Gilbert Mitsubishi in Lidcombe NSW for $81.10. Was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting $90-100. I asked if I had been given some sort of trade price but the answer was negative.

I have a 02 TJ and the sender just went nuts at 130k's. went to wreckers for a replacement unit. Changed the sender only, Still used the same unit. All is good now. BTW, I must thank the guys here for all their expert advise on how to replace the unit. Would have cost me a bomb sending it to the mechanic to be replaced. Was quoted at least 1 hour just for labour.

hahaha mines got that problem. has since i owned the car... i bought the car with 55k on the clock... is this the lowet figure or what?

Guys, I just went out during my lunch break and bought my 3rd gen magna fuel sender unit (part no MR933626) from Phil Gilbert Mitsubishi in Lidcombe NSW for $81.10. Was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting $90-100. I asked if I had been given some sort of trade price but the answer was negative.

Trade price on the fuel sender is around $71.

The sender must be like the timing belt. Just had the belt done as part of the 45000km service on a TJ, upon pickup from that service the sender failed on the very next startup. So both items seem to have the same "life". Seems too that with the low kms on our vehicle, it's a deteriation thing and not wear......

And Canberra seems to be a little more expensive for the part.....

The sender must be like the timing belt. Just had the belt done as part of the 45000km service on a TJ, upon pickup from that service the sender failed on the very next startup. So both items seem to have the same "life". Seems too that with the low kms on our vehicle, it's a deteriation thing and not wear......

And Canberra seems to be a little more expensive for the part.....

Timing belt at 45,000? You got ripped :nuts:

Timing belt at 45,000? You got ripped :nuts:

Timing belt needs to be done at 100,000kms or 60 months (5 years) whichever comes first.

Timing belt needs to be done at 100,000kms or 60 months (5 years) whichever comes first.

Yeh, we were caught out initally when it went in for the service and the service dept rang to inform us of the belt change, but a quick look around the internet confirmed it was kms or timed. And if the timing belt is anything like the fuel sender unit, glad I got it done! Even if it's just for peace of mind.....

Yeah, what's this with a timing belt needing replacing every 5 years? I would have thought that the belt weakens through revolutions of the engine and hot/cold cycles, rather than age. What if you buy a new car that has been sitting in a holding yard for 2 or 3 years? (not likely, but 6 months can be common). Or you buy a belt from a dealer that has been sitting on the shelf for 5 years? Do new belts come with a manufacturing date and instructions to replace it at 5 years after the manufacturing date?

I ask because my wife's car is a 2004 lancer that was 6 months old when purchased, and has done just 20,000 Km since the time of manufacture, January 2004. Was going to let the belt go for a few years (to 50,000 Km) but now I'm not so sure. I know of another lancer that has its belt changed at 97,000 Km but it took the owner 12 years to get there.

Guess it come down to whether you gamble or not. Our TJ manufacture date was late 2002, so the timing belt was closer to seven years old. Back to the sender, I'll still be interested in how it looks when I do the replacement. I note that there is no info on the sender condition ie. dirty or worn wiper etc. Hope to post some pictures once I do the change.

Guess it come down to whether you gamble or not. Our TJ manufacture date was late 2002, so the timing belt was closer to seven years old. Back to the sender, I'll still be interested in how it looks when I do the replacement. I note that there is no info on the sender condition ie. dirty or worn wiper etc. Hope to post some pictures once I do the change.

It probably won't look old, but that doesn't mean it's not about ready to cark it.

If the sender is anything the same as the earlier ones I found that the copper flotation chamber gets a pinhole in it that allows fuel to fill the chamber, allowing it to dry out and soldering it fixes the problem..have not opened up the later models but imagine they are similar.

I swapped a fuel sender in 2002 TJ Sports. Got one from wrecker that looked good on visual inspection...... bought the whole thing, only changed the float and 'wiper" bit. Has worked flawlessly ever since..... the one that came out had no obvious defect, MAYBE a bit of wear on the resistor/windings, but not obvious at all.

Relieving fuel pressure (take cap off tank) was a good tip, and I struggled with the fuel connector (had no disconnect tool)..... also had a bit of fun manouvring the unit back into the tank - but got there in the end.

fuel sender one min their working the next nope. easy job the fix though

I bought my 02 TJ from pickles auctions about 3 years ago with 80K on the clock. Couldn't start it because of a flat battery so bought it based upon general condition and km. Drove it round the corner and it konked out on me. No fuel I thought. Pushed to the petrol station and put $30 in it no change. Bought a new battery at the Kmart Tyre and Auto next door and then found the disconnected injector plug and drove home.
I looked at aftermarket senders thinking this would be the cheaper way to go but found them up around the $100 mark and probably incompatable. I was surprised to find the genuine part was only around $63 at the time.

Well, job done. Thanks to the DIY instructions. Only tricky bit was getting the fuel line off, but just persisted as the instructions indicated and it was off. The wiper/potentiometer seemed ok, a little dirty, but even once I cleaned it up a little, a check with a multimeter showed it to be a bit erratic.