Fuel light

[Rookiespyder]

Hello to all, question time I have a fellow Canadian rider that has a 2011 RTS and they say that there fuel light stays on all the time when it is full or half full. Anyone have any ideas why this is. There is no codes coming up.

[Chupaca]

You will get no codes for this. Are we talking analog dial gauge or digital bars on dash. In any case it would be the sending unit that needs to be checked. Has any work been done lately electrical lights where they may have tapped into the wiring..? :dontknow:

[Peter Aawen]

I've got one of those randomly activating fuel lights too, altho right atm, it's apparently working correctly for a while?! I'm on the second tank full with the gauge reflecting the REAL contents of the tank & the light has not yet come on because the tank is not yet holding less than 1/4 of a tank full of gas rather than it reflecting some random level somewhere between full & empty that may or may not reflect the correct level of fuel remaining in the tank, with a fuel light that may or may not be on to show that I should seek to refil the tank within some arbitrary distance?! :gaah:

There have been times when I've filled the gas tank on my Spyder close to overflowing so that the fuel gauge showed full and yet the fuel light came on again less than 15 miles down the road while the gauge still showed close to full!! And at other times the gauge might drop to empty and the low fuel warning light come on within the same distance; or the contents in the tank might be down to less than 1/8th of a tankful with the gauge showing that & yet the light has not yet come on, or vice versa?! :rolleyes: Believe me, both the gauges (digital & analogue) & the low fuel warning light on my Spyder are usually either religiously correct (ie, they show whatever they damn well please & I pray like buggry that there's enough gas in there left to get me to the next fuel stop! :pray: ) or they work pretty well and seem fairly accurate for a while, but your guess is as good as mine as to how long they'll remain in either condition; so I know how frustrating a dodgy gas gauge & a randomly lit low fuel light can be!! :p

I think there must be something sticky or jamming in the fuel gauge sender/low fuel warning light sender somewhere, and every now & then it gets bumped free, so then it works, until the next time it sticks anyway..... I guess it could be fixed properly, but it's bloody hard to jiggle the gas tank far enough out to the right that you can actually get in there to see & maybe sort things so that it works properly or you can replace the whole sender unit/pump/pick-up unit - and I've yet to find a dealer that is sure they can fix it!! Got a couple that'll have a go (at my expense of course! ) but they won't guarantee that they'll sort it properly on the first go, and most think it'll take at least a couple of hours at expensive dealer rates to even try the first time! :dontknow:

All of which boils down to mean that I'm gonna put up with it as is until it stops working completely & the Spyder engine splutters to a stop with the gas gauge showing full & the low fuel light shining brightly!! Or maybe I'll get sick of it first?! I dunno, but it hasn't driven me to take to the dash with an axe..... not yet, anyway! :shocked:

Besides, no other bike I've owned even had a fuel gauge &/or warning light, so just like always, I plan my refuelling stops off the trip meter. ;)

[missouriboy]

My gauges and warning light have always worked just fine, but I still use the trip meter for every tank. I fill up every 200 miles +/- 10 or so, and always have about a gallon left.

If you learn your range on a tank, and use the trip meter, you'll never have to worry about the accuracy of the gauges.

[starrider60]

Being a long time rider, I tend to go by the miles rode instead of the gauge. 200 miles when not pulling my camper. 160 when I am. I have learned that I usually have about a 1/2 gallon left when the warning light comes. :doorag:

[ARtraveler]

My gauges and warning light have always worked just fine, but I still use the trip meter for every tank. I fill up every 200 miles +/- 10 or so, and always have about a gallon left.

If you learn your range on a tank, and use the trip meter, you'll never have to worry about the accuracy of the gauges.

Me too. That way I have two different methods of verification. That's the accountant in me. :roflblack:

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Looked over the drawing. I don't think I missed anything. Could not find a separate level sensor or float for only the light. An analog signal from the fuel sender is sensed by the cluster, and so it appears that the cluster generates the light, all on its own, based on that. That IS weirdly interesting. Personally, I use the gauge combined with the trip meter method. Most of the time I'm not looking at the dash lights anyway, because they're rather hard to see...for me anyway. Changing out the sender or the cluster is not a small, inexpensive thing.