The only time I ever saw a Rover fuel gauge that was accurate was in the Defender, when it had it's original tank, sender, and gauge. Even when I switched the gauge to VDO, it was pretty accurate once it got past the first 70-90 miles. I think the RRC gauges were just as bad as the Disco gauges -- even my 2004 Disco pegged to the top, and wouldn't start moving till it got past 70 miles, then it was relatively accurate all the way down.
Now that I have a new tank, sender, and gauge, I really have very badly skewed gauge readings. It won't come alive till I've driven 100 miles, and I have no idea how much is in the tank anywhere above half way. If the needle is at half way, I think I may have anywhere from 10-13 gallons used. And my fuel light did work at 2 gallons in the tank, but I'm not sure it is working anymore.... it works fine for 30 years... then when I get a new tank and sender and such, it decides to stop working just one month later...
When I put the tank in, I verified that the 1/4 mark really was 5 gallons, but then when I fill it up from 1/4 tank, it often needs 18 gallons to fill, sometimes 13, sometimes 15.
So, how can I adjust to make it read more accurately?
I know that if I slightly bend the sender float arm I could at least make it accurate (theoretically) for the first 3/4 of the tank. But I imagine that once it gets down low, maybe that light would never come on, and the low fuel indication would be inaccurate as much as the high fuel level indication was inaccurate. And there isn't any precision in trying to figure out exactly how much of a bend is needed!
I thought maybe I could put a resistor in the line someplace. But this is only my brain trying to think through the way electrics work, and I wouldn't know where to put it, or how much resistance to add.
Any other ideas?
Now that I have a new tank, sender, and gauge, I really have very badly skewed gauge readings. It won't come alive till I've driven 100 miles, and I have no idea how much is in the tank anywhere above half way. If the needle is at half way, I think I may have anywhere from 10-13 gallons used. And my fuel light did work at 2 gallons in the tank, but I'm not sure it is working anymore.... it works fine for 30 years... then when I get a new tank and sender and such, it decides to stop working just one month later...
When I put the tank in, I verified that the 1/4 mark really was 5 gallons, but then when I fill it up from 1/4 tank, it often needs 18 gallons to fill, sometimes 13, sometimes 15.
So, how can I adjust to make it read more accurately?
I know that if I slightly bend the sender float arm I could at least make it accurate (theoretically) for the first 3/4 of the tank. But I imagine that once it gets down low, maybe that light would never come on, and the low fuel indication would be inaccurate as much as the high fuel level indication was inaccurate. And there isn't any precision in trying to figure out exactly how much of a bend is needed!
I thought maybe I could put a resistor in the line someplace. But this is only my brain trying to think through the way electrics work, and I wouldn't know where to put it, or how much resistance to add.
Any other ideas?