P Reg Skoda Pick Up - Work horse every  for years ( motorcycle shop)   but sadly probably coming to end

 

Today low fuel warning light came on and stayed on , even though tank half full. Stays on if I pull wire plug  off sender unit under rear floor pan

 

Anyone any experience of same ?  Faulty sender unit ?  Gauge all working OK 

Not sure if its the same with your vehicle but this used to happen on old cars etc, if the float-thing in the tank broke or filled with fuel. It then failed to float, giving a constant "Empty" Reading. Sounds funny though, that the gauge is still functioning s I'd have thought they'd use the same float. Worth a look, though. You might find an inspection plate on the top of the tank. That or remove the fuel sender, clean it up etc.

3 hours ago, Frontera said:

Anyone any experience of same ?  Faulty sender unit ?  Gauge all working OK 

Remove sender unit and have a look at it.

Well, my experience is that there are failure modes in both the float and the sender which can cause the gauge to misread. Usually though you either get a 0 reading regardless of actual contents or a correct reading above a certain level. Generally, repair involves fitting a new sender.

Thanks to all for your advice.    Was about to take sender out etc as advised but had to go on a 50 mile trip first this morning.  Light never came on and has not come on since - so for now at least problem has solved itself.     Of course I realise it is likely to re-occur and then I will look at sender immediately

 

Thanks for help

 

PS as my pick comes to end ( just few months left on MOT)   and been welded to death in past , there is not a hope in hell really of finding a suitable replacement .

 

Except for Caddy and Skoda, there are no small pick ups on UK market new or  not too old -  although quite a lot in Europe .   

9 hours ago, Frontera said:

Light never came on and has not come on since

Well, fill tank until petrol pump cuts off, zero trip, and drive until low fuel light comes on. Refill until cutout and you'll have a reasonable idea of available range between necessary fills.

15 hours ago, Frontera said:

Light never came on and has not come on since - so for now at least problem has solved itself.     Of course I realise it is likely to re-occur and then I will look at sender immediately

Trust me, it will happen again. The only question is "when". Mr. Murphy knows the answer 😎