Just asking on behalf of a guy at work.

He has 03' TL and can fuel up, Fuel gauge reads Full, but within the first 30 litres some where it reads empty. ( fuel is still their of course, and the trip comp functions)

Whats going on.

Is it a Slide up and down gauge, or does it look like a ball float? Or some thing else.



And another thing. We get a fuel light fairly early. Is that to help keep the in-tank pump cool and preserve its life?

Will they (the pump) die earlier if driven on empty most of the time.

Edit: I think I found the answer to cooling the pump, it may be kept cool by the fuel passing through it.

Fuel sender. $70 part, fit yourself.

I had a look at the part in the manual, theres no way that float could slide around, so I'd put it down to a faulty ( dont know the term, but like a Potentiometer ) position sensor.

I've had some luck with fuel senders from wreckers, both my TJ II and KJ have had the fuel-sender drama.

It's a cylindrical float on a short arm (12-15cm at most), the guage contact traverses a small arc across a wire-winding resistor.

I've had guage stick on empty after refueling, as well as the inaccurate readings. I've never spotted the problem with my original senders (and have kept them on-hand). It is possible to carefully dissemble the arm from the resistor part (being sure not to damage a spring at the pivot point), and modify to increase the tension of the contact and resistor - then reassemble.

No doubt buying a new sender unit as spare part is a safer bet - but just at the moment, each of my "swaps" from a wreck has worked OK for me.

Are they a separate part?
as im having the same trouble,took it to the mechanics and confirmed the sender
but said it was also part of the fuel pump and a mitsu one would cost me over $500 plus fitting
if it is separate what price are they and how hard to fit
Thanks for any replies

For a tj2

The fuel-guage sender is a piece which clips into the fuel pump bracket, and has a couple of push-on electrical connectors as well. Fuel sender components are mounted on a plastic frame which has clips attaching it to holes on the metal bracket of fuel pump.

Several members have been able to buy the fuel-sender bit, (often about the $90- mark I recall), from Mitsi Spares. If a workshop pulled the fuel-pump and sender unit out of the tank, they would probably assume that it is a single part - it does look that way. At least in teh past, Mitsi have sold just the sender unit section.

EDIT: How hard to fit? Not too bad. Search will reveal step-by-step in old threads.
Need to remove rear seat lower section (the base, not the backrest). Undo a tin plate near centre of car. Depressurise fuel tank, by opening the fuel cap. Undo fuel pump/sender connector on top of tank. Undo about 6-8 8mm nuts. Disconnect the fuel line from pipe on top plate - specialised tool very helpful for this step.... has a self-locking connector on fuel line fitting. Pull plate/fuel-pump/sender unit out of tank - some manipulation req'd to allow float arm to come up thru the hole. Unclip the electrical connectors between sender-unit and fule pump bracket, unclip the plastic from teh bracket. Install new/spare sender unit to bracket, attach the electrical clips. Reverse all prior steps of removal. Needless to say, be well-ventilated and non-smoker thru-out procedure. half hour or so job.