2008 Fabia 3 1.6 petrol. The fuel gauge (analogue) seems to be stuck on full. A few days ago my wife filled the tank and managed to get in 50 litres, this is 7 or 8 litres more than we have ever put in in 6 years of owning the car. Is this related? Since then we have done around 150 miles and the gauge has not moved. Any suggestions very welcome.

David

Id leave it abit longer. I've had over 150 miles on full before.

Give it abit longer. I bet its working .

She'll have accidentally 'vented' the tank

There's a 1.6 petrol mk2?

There's a 1.6 petrol mk2?

Some of the preface lifts got the 105ps i think.

It's probably the tank sender unit float stuck, not the gauge needle. You can try this: with the vehicle on a flat piece of quiet road with no possibility of danger to you or anyone else, select first gear. Keep the handbrake on firmly. Next, using the engine power and clutch, make the car rock up and down at the back by attempting to move off in a series of clutch up and down movement. You want the suspension at the back to drop and rise in quick succession to attempt to free the sender unit float in the petrol tank. This does work quite often and everything returns to normal. 

 

On the petrol 1.6 16v 105ps Fabia Mk2 (I have the 2009 estate 6 speed Tiptronic version) the gauge drops like a stone compared to other Skoda engine ranges. The gauge should have moved by now. On a run I get a best of 51mpg and with mixed urban and town running that drops to anywhere between 35-40mpg. Pure town work gives a lowly 28mpg! But still not too bad for a non turbo petrol car of that size. Goes ok too!

Edited 1 October, 201411 yr by Estate Man

On the petrol 1.6 16v 105ps Fabia Mk2 (I have the 2009 estate 6 speed Tiptronic version) the gauge drops like a stone compared to other Skoda engine ranges. The gauge should have moved by now. On a run I get a best of 51mpg and with mixed urban and town running that drops to anywhere between 35-40mpg. Pure town work gives a lowly 28mpg! But still not too bad for a non turbo petrol car of that size. Goes ok too!

Youl know more about it than me then.

My 1.2 averages between 45-50mpg n iv had over 150 miles before the gauge moves. Only when vented though.

Could she of accidentally vented it?

Id leave it another 50 miles or so before getting concerned tbh.

There's a 1.6 petrol mk2?

There certainly is - Ihave owned one for 6 years.

Thanks for the responses so far. I will set trip odometer to zero and leave it another 100 miles or so. If that fails will try the 'rocking'. The facia gauge is not stuck - goes to zero on switch off ignition then immediately to full on switching on.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'accidentally vented it'.  Putting in 50 litres definitely has used up all the space in the tank and pipe and would force the sender unit to maximum. If it hasn't been there for a long time, or even never, it will probably now be stuck. It is a frequent problem for techs to deal with, but is often cured without intervention just by the using the method I described above. Often a bump in the road will return everything to normal. However, the sender may need replacing if it remains in the stuck position. Easy job though and not too expensive. But definitely should have moved by now after 150 miles in a 1.6 petrol.

Thanks for the responses so far. I will set trip odometer to zero and leave it another 100 miles or so. If that fails will try the 'rocking'. The facia gauge is not stuck - goes to zero on switch off ignition then immediately to full on switching on.

 

adagio, I wouldn't leave it! Your fuel level is now just right to try the rocking action to free the float. You want the fuel in the tank to slop around the unit to provide more vibration, movement etc. Leaving it will make it less likely to be successful. 

Edited 1 October, 201411 yr by Estate Man

Not quite sure what you mean by 'accidentally vented it'. Putting in 50 litres definitely has used up all the space in the tank and pipe and would force the sender unit to maximum. If it hasn't been there for a long time, or even never, it will probably now be stuck. It is a frequent problem for techs to deal with, but is often cured without intervention just by the using the method I described above. Often a bump in the road will return everything to normal. However, the sender may need replacing if it remains in the stuck position. Easy job though and not too expensive. But definitely should have moved by now after 150 miles in a 1.6 petrol.

By pressing the little black thing on the right of the filler neck with the nozzle, you can fill the expansion tank without realising.

As i say though. Youll know more about the 1.6 than me mate.

From the manual:-

 

"Make sure that the valve is not pressed into the filler tube when inserting the
pump nozzle into the filler tube. Otherwise you are unintentionally filling up the
volume, which in case of heat can cause an expansion of the fuel. This can lead to
an overflow of fuel or damage to parts of the fuel reservoir."

 

We always fill the tank when refuelling - on this occasion put in about 7 litres more than we have ever done before 49.76 - she was shocked by the bill and I suspected a pump error however unlikely that might have been. I have now spotted the "Green Button" which I did not know existed. My wife says that she had to operate the fuel hose at a 'funny angle'. Given the above I suspect the venting theory. If this has happened will it correct itself?

 

I will in any event go out and try the 'rocking' technique.

I thought thats what had happened!

Nah its fine mate. It will have used most of what was in the expansion tank by now anyway.

Usually though, its a good idea to just fill the expansion before a long run. Its not recommended to do it usually.

It will be fine. It automatically closes. Dont worry . Just see how far you can get now haha.

Well sadly the rocking did nothing. However, having now done another 80 miles the gauge is now reading 3/4 so hopefully all is well. Thanks to those of you who made helpful suggestions.

 

Could someone possibly explain the layout of the tank and expansion chamber and how they are connected? I had no idea that this chamber existed.

2014 Fabia SE.  Had a similar problem today.  Fuel gauge was just below half but managed to get more than 43.69 litres (over £50) in it.  I was unaware of the venting system used on this vehicle.  Fuel gauge now shows full but obviously I will keep an eye on it in case the sender unit in the tank is faulty.

http://vwts.ru/vw_doc2/fabia_eng.pdf page 24 shows useful diagram. 

Well sadly the rocking did nothing. However, having now done another 80 miles the gauge is now reading 3/4 so hopefully all is well. Thanks to those of you who made helpful suggestions.

Could someone possibly explain the layout of the tank and expansion chamber and how they are connected? I had no idea that this chamber existed.

Yeah. Its useful if you're going on a long trip. Iv had nearly 530 miles to a tank in my 1.2 htp doing this. That was 2 people, a few bits for me and the SWMBO filled the rest of the car up with crap, and i wasnt driving to save fuel.

I havent got a diagram as such, and i cant read Russian so i cant navigate the above website haha.

I can only assume its a small tank linked to the main tank which catches air as you fill up. As air can be compressed and a liquid cant, it would take up the extra volume as the fuel expands due to temps.

When you pull the little switch in the nozzle, it lets the air out, so you can replace it with extra fuel

This is why its not advised to fill the expansion tank unless doing a long trip.

I can only think thats how it works, but i may be wrong. Others might know better

If you use Chrome Google will kindly translate it for you - I managed to find the PDF and downloaded it, very informative it is too so thanks to Smittjo. Unfortunately due to the 2MB limit on attaching files can't upload it, moreover it is password protected so can't extract required pages have, hopefully attached a screenshot of the relevant page.

 

Edit failed miserably - will try again

Edited 6 October, 201411 yr by adagio

If you use Chrome Google will kindly translate it for you - I managed to find the PDF and downloaded it, very informative it is too so thanks to Smittjo. Unfortunately due to the 2MB limit on attaching files can't upload it, moreover it is password protected so can't extract required pages have, hopefully attached a screenshot of the relevant page.

 

Somehow managed to post twice - sorry

Edited 6 October, 201411 yr by adagio

If you use Chrome Google will kindly translate it for you - I managed to find the PDF and downloaded it, very informative it is too so thanks to Smittjo. Unfortunately due to the 2MB limit on attaching files can't upload it, moreover it is password protected so can't extract required pages have, hopefully attached a screenshot of the relevant page. fueltankvent.png

Somehow managed to post twice - sorry

Not seen that before. Cheers!

Very interesting .

I know this is an old post but I am so glad I found it. I filled my 2013 Fabia 1.2tsi DSG up last weekend & was surprised how much more fuel I got in than normal. Looking back I think I inadvertently had part of the fuel nozzle pressed against the vent button on the right hand side of the filler neck. I didn't even know it was there until I read one of these posts & checked. Over the next 4 or 5 days driving to & from work I became concerned as the gauge stayed on full for around 140 miles before it finally started to drop. I also noticed that the distance remaining display varied between 360 & 390 miles all the time until the gauge actually started to drop. I am very relieved that there wasn't a problem with either the gauge or the sender unit in the tank.