chriswhitsett

my fuel gauge has decided to read wherever wants too. If I am out of gas sometimes it will say I have a full tank, or 1/2 a tank, or that it's empty! today I put 27.00 wirth of gas in it, and right now my reserve light is on. has anyone encountered this, or know of it will be a cheap fix?

sph17

When I obtained a Starmarked W202 almost immediately I noticed that sometimes (once every day or so) the fuel gauge would drop 1/4 infront of my eyes. The first time this happened I though I had sprung a major fuel leak. Sometimes shortly after filling up the car it would go down to empty with the fuel light on. Turning the car off, waiting a few min, then restarting would temporaraly solve the problem.

The dealer replaced the two fuel level sensors in the tank, and I have not had the problem re-occur. I do not know how expensive or how involved this repair was/is.

Good luck.

henry47

Same thing happened to me. The dealer had to replace the fuel sensors and also to replace the instrument cluster. i believe the instrument cluster alone was $1600

mr_man12

That seems excessive, replacing the whole instrument cluster. Maybe it had to be done though.

scorchie

Fuel senders in W202 is a very common problem (if you do a search in the forums... you'll see that).

Usually it only requires replacing the two fuel senders in the tank. One is a lot more expensive than the other. (One has a pump, the other does not, and naturally... the one without the pump costs more.)

As Henry stated, in some cases the technicians will replace the instrument cluster, although I don't know a situation that would always require it.

The labor to replace the senders can be pretty high, so that's where the bulk of the cost is. If you're adventurous, you can remove the senders and clean the contacts on them. This seems to help oftentimes.

-s-

Winhard

I had exactly the same problem 6 months ago. It was due to the fuel sender. Pretty labor intensive. Need to remove the gas tank to replace the part. I'm glad mine is still under warranty!!

HYPERI0N24

I kinda have the same problem, but my gas gauge is fine. My car would stop randomly(gas...usually at the half or more. Just last weekend, my engine just completely shut off when the gauge read b/w the 3/4 and 1/2 mark, on the freeway! This happened to me about 3-4 times, mostly on the freeway! Battery and spark plugs fine (just replaced), can't think of anything else other than the fuel senders/pumps or sensors, or the management. My car has 130,000 miles. Hey Scorchie, maybe you and the others can help me with the 'adventerous' part...hehah.

Lata,
D

chriswhitsett

Yeah, just got off the phone w/ my mechanic, he said he has to replace the left sensor which is about $140. I asked him about the labor and he said it would take only an hour or two. He just has to remove the backseat. $1600 for an instrument cluster!? I saw one on ebay not too long ago with a buy it now under $100, I could have read it wrong,

pks485

I encountered the same problem.

My dealer covered it in the warranty period though.

Good Luck and welcome to MBWorld!