Fuel Gauge Problem

[philbowie]

The analog fuel gauge on my 2014 RT-S is showing empty and I get an orange warning on the display and a fuel warning light, but the tank is filled. Has anybody else had this problem? Any ideas on how to fix it? The bike has less than 5k miles on it and is like new all over. Just bought it two months ago, so I'm still learning the systems. Any help much appreciated.

Phil Bowie
www.philbowie.com

[SpyderAnn01]

Sounds like the float is stuck. Are you still under warranty/extended warranty?

[philbowie]

Thanks SpyderAnn. Feels like an electrical glitch, though. I had the problem a few days ago, and thought the tank was empty, so I put in five gallons with a portable can. The gauge returned to full and I thought all was OK. Then today I started it (with a full tank) and watched the needle slowly fall to empty again, with the warning lights coming on.

[Bob Denman]

I think that it's time to give your dealer a call...
I'm sorry that you're having trouble with your bike; good luck, and please let us know what happens next.


EDIT: I just saw your reply to Ann...
Isn't there an electrical connection at the top of the tank for this sort of stuff?
Make sure that it's plugged in nice and solid.

[marty1096]

Take the screws 4 screws out. Remove the plug from both temp and gas gage.Do you get an indicator bar graph on each side of screen? I could get my fingers back there without pulling the screen completely out.

[SteveLaoyster]

You might want to pull the dash bezel to check the wires on the back of the gauge. Just 4 screws then pull it towards the handles. Be careful as the coolant temp gauge comes with it too. Good luck.

[Peter Aawen]

That sounds like the wiring for your sender unit on the tank has somehow come off or otherwise failed; or the sender unit itself has fallen apart inside the tank; altho I guess it could also be just the gauge that spat the dummy.

One way to check/confirm if it's a failed sender unit or dud wiring is to pop the dash open & disconnect both of the analogue gauges - fuel AND temperature. Label or otherwise identify the wires & secure them out of the way, then put the dash back on properly & start your Spyder up, maybe even take the opportunity to go for a ryde around the block. If the digital gauge displays for both fuel level & coolant temp work OK, then it can't be the sender or its wiring. But if you have exactly the same problem with the digital gauge, ie it shows empty when it's full & displays the warnings, then it's most likely going to be the message from the sender unit either not being there at all due to a wiring problem or the sender has failed or fallen apart inside the tank! Your first step then should be to check that the sender unit is still plugged in to the wiring loom with wires that aren't shorted or otherwise compromised.... & that might need you to remove a bit of tupperware! If it's not that, then you may be faced with having to remove the sender from the tank & either fixing or replacing it!

If the wiring is good & it's all connected & working properly, so you get to the 'pulling the sender out of the tank' stage, don't get suckered in by everything looking fine at first glance - you really need to check it all carefully! A tiny worn spot in the 'quadrant' used to show the level can make the float stick or not read properly, altho sometimes this sort of failure can also be attributed to a float that no longer floats (ie, it's got a hole in it so now it sinks instead of floating to give you a level) but I'm not sure that Spyder sender unit even uses a quadrant or a float to determine the fuel level, those 'old school' devices are becoming less prevalent these days! Anyhow, good luck getting it sorted whatever the problem may be. I hope this helped some!

[Chupaca]

if you manage that and it still not solving the problem you will have to go to the dealer. Now if your under warranty I would let them deal with it...

[philbowie]

It's not still under warranty, so I'll try to fix it myself.
I'll do some very careful digging and let you know what I find. Thanks for the advice, all.
Phil B

[Spyderjuice]

I had this problem on a 2008 GS. It was showing full when it was empty and empty when full. The problem was the float on the fuel pump and the fuel pump had to be replaced.

Stan

[philbowie]

Thanks again for all this great advice so promptly. I will indeed check with BRP to see if I'm covered under the extended warranty.
Phil Bowie

[Briteyes]

That sounds like the wiring for your sender unit on the tank has somehow come off or otherwise failed; or the sender unit itself has fallen apart inside the tank; altho I guess it could also be just the gauge that spat the dummy.

One way to check/confirm if it's a failed sender unit or dud wiring is to pop the dash open & disconnect both of the analogue gauges - fuel AND temperature. Label or otherwise identify the wires & secure them out of the way, then put the dash back on properly & start your Spyder up, maybe even take the opportunity to go for a ryde around the block. If the digital gauge displays for both fuel level & coolant temp work OK, then it can't be the sender or its wiring. But if you have exactly the same problem with the digital gauge, ie it shows empty when it's full & displays the warnings, then it's most likely going to be the message from the sender unit either not being there at all due to a wiring problem or the sender has failed or fallen apart inside the tank! Your first step then should be to check that the sender unit is still plugged in to the wiring loom with wires that aren't shorted or otherwise compromised.... & that might need you to remove a bit of tupperware! If it's not that, then you may be faced with having to remove the sender from the tank & either fixing or replacing it!

If the wiring is good & it's all connected & working properly, so you get to the 'pulling the sender out of the tank' stage, don't get suckered in by everything looking fine at first glance - you really need to check it all carefully! A tiny worn spot in the 'quadrant' used to show the level can make the float stick or not read properly, altho sometimes this sort of failure can also be attributed to a float that no longer floats (ie, it's got a hole in it so now it sinks instead of floating to give you a level) but I'm not sure that Spyder sender unit even uses a quadrant or a float to determine the fuel level, those 'old school' devices are becoming less prevalent these days! Anyhow, good luck getting it sorted whatever the problem may be. I hope this helped some!

Did you find out what the problem was?? as I'm having this problem now. Briteyes asking

[Peter Aawen]

Did you find out what the problem was?? as I'm having this problem now. Briteyes asking

If you follow the steps I outlined in that post you quoted, you should be able to narrow down any likely problems &/or either fix any pump/sender issues or swap over to the digital gauges all the time, if you have analogue gauges fitted. There again, have you tried anything suggested in the other thread where you asked about the low fuel light & fuel gauges??

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...81#post1641181

But as far as this thread is concerned, I don't think Phil ever came back to tell us wwhat his eventual outcome was - but he's been around the Forum fairly recently, so maybe he'll reply with an update??