I’m having a problem with an erratic gas gauge on a 1997 xk8 convertible. I’ve already changed the fuel gauge sending unit and didn’t fix the problem. I’ve thought about changing the whole cluster (tach, speedometer, gas gauge) but was wondering what problems I’d have if I found a used cluster that didn’t have the same odometer reading as mine.

Has anyone had this same problem and how was it resolved?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Odometer readings are stored in the ECM. The dash only displays what the ECM tells it.

CP

 

I can understand you wanting the gas gauge to read correctly. I’ve been wanting the same thing for the past 8 years of my ownership of my 2002 XKR. It does approach accuracy if I’m on a cross country trip and am buying tankful after tankful in the same day. Otherwise it usually reads low.


but what is dead nuts accurate is the number of gallons of gas used on the display that shows MPG average, MPG instant, trip odometer, etc.


so I don’t really need the gas gauge . I know the tank holds 20 gal and if I use 10 gal then I have 10 gal left.

it doesn’t bother me at all that the gas gauge is wonky. But that’s just me. I figure I have bigger fish to fry.

Aside from consumables like gas and oil and tires my car has cost me about $400 over 8 years, and it’s my daily driver, logging over 15,000 miles per year. In a couple of weeks i’m going to pass 200,000 miles. By far it’s the most reliable used car I’ve ever owned in the last 55 years.


so no complaints from me about the gas gauge.

Z

 

Accuracy is not a feature of British car gauges ...they are intend to tell you when to fill up ie fuel or no fuel ..always been that way

 

As well as "MPG Average" etc as mentioned by zray, there is the "Range" display - this is based on how much fuel is left in the tank. Check that this works accurately to prove that the sender is ok. If so, then your problem is definitely with the fuel gauge itself.

Oh and if you swap the whole cluster, you will get odometer reading from the donor car as the mileage is stored in the cluster, not the ECM.

 

Thanx for all of the replies. In my over 60yrs of owning cars I've never had a crazier gas gauge. Guess it's something I'm going to have to learn to live with. Have had the car for only about 3 months and the gauge worked great for the first month. That has been the only issue with the car.

 

I don't know if this is helpful but I have the same problem with a 98. I use the trip tracker and refill every 150 miles. I know thats not a fix but to take out the tank and change the float is a big job. Sounds like you already did that though.