200tdi defender 90 fuel sender trouble

[trickydicky]

I know it sounds stupid but iv run out of fuel yet again and its showing a third of a tank iv changed the tank sender twice now so i thought id ask the experts on hear .which direction should the float point ? forwards or backwards? iv had the problem since iv had the car.

[western]

90 or110 ?

as they use different sender units. if its a 110 the float should be forward of its operating arm. 

[trickydicky]

sorry its a 90 and its a new sender it shows full but only goes down 2 thirds of the way on the clock i was thinking it may be resting on one of the tank baffles

Edited May 22, 2021 by trickydicky
missing info

[western]

My fault I missed you had put 90, in the title. 

make sure the float arm is not getting trapped & can use its full range of movement, 

looking at the 90parts book page on Retro's site the sender arm faces rear & the float is on the left side of its arm see the 2 screenshots.

[monkie]

Also worth checking the guage it self is properly earthed as that will affect the reading. Before you fit the sender in the tank, wire it up and turn the ignition on so that you can see when the float is at the bottom the gauge reads empty and then check the half full and full positions so you know for sure the sender is giving the correct signal for the gauge. That way you conclusively know there isn't a mismatch problem between gauge, sender and wiring. 

[trickydicky]

thanks guys ill give it a go in the morning

[Eightpot]

Have you tried bending the float arm up a bit? The variable resistor on the hed of the sender needs to travel all the way down to register empty - if the float hits the bottom of the tank first you'll always show more fuel than you have.