Need some help! Fuel readings AWOL...
10-22-2011, 11:12 PM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Need some help! Fuel readings AWOL...
Today was a real head-scratcher.
A couple of months ago, Steve (320dreamer) and I installed the SLK32 AMG gauges into my car. Rudy did a phenomenal job coding the '32 gauges to accept my VIN, and everything crossed over seamlessly. Everything worked great -- RPMs, speedometer, temp gauge -- except the fuel gauge.
At first, we thought it was the sending unit... Surely with the AMG motor and the base M112's differences in fuel needs, there was a funky unplanned difference in the sending unit, right? Nope.
After much discussion, it was determined that the '32 and the Crossfire have the same sending unit part number. As pretty as the gauges were, they simply would not read the fuel level, and the gauge was constantly pinned to zero.
So, today, I admitted defeat, and brought my OEM gauge cluster (the one that came from MY car) back down to Steve's garage. I had carefully swapped the white face gauges from a regular SLK 320 (160 mph speedo, so my OEM gauge calibration would work) and replaced the needles as carefully as possible.
Remove the steering wheel, rip the car's interior apart, remove the AMG gauges, transfer the Crossfire plastic shroud back onto the OEM gauges, connect to the harnesses, reinstall, get everything back together, and ---- still no fuel.
Fuel gauge #2, this time my OEM gauge (which read perfectly fine before the AMG cluster install) is now flat-lined like the '32 gauges were.
Adding insult to injury, the needles weren't as "lined up" as I thought they were, b/c once I reconnected the negative cable, the temp gauge pegs 1/4" below the cold line, speedo 1/8" below 0mph and the tach needle is 3/8" below 0 RPM.
Those are easy fixes, basically I have to take the cluster back out and rotate the needles counter-clockwise until they zero-out, thus resetting the servo position.
But the fuel has me stumped.
Is there a fuse I should check? Can a sending unit just mysteriously "fail" with a cluster removal?
Odd that two totally different gauges would have the exact same problem. Either the sending unit is not communicating, the harness from the left side of the cluster is compromised, or... I don't know.
If it's the sending unit, I'm throwing the AMG gauges back in. Just seems odd to me that, the least complicated function of both gauges is the very portion that isn't working.
One side note -- seatbelt warning was silent with the AMG gauges installed - not even the dummy light. After installing the OEM gauges back in, the alarm is still silent, still no light.
I did, however, get the FSS indicator back.
Pointers/assumptions/educated guesses appreciated.
Here's the thread on my home forum, if you want to read their responses and form added opinions:
http://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/...l-no-fuel.html
Thank you all!!
A couple of months ago, Steve (320dreamer) and I installed the SLK32 AMG gauges into my car. Rudy did a phenomenal job coding the '32 gauges to accept my VIN, and everything crossed over seamlessly. Everything worked great -- RPMs, speedometer, temp gauge -- except the fuel gauge.
At first, we thought it was the sending unit... Surely with the AMG motor and the base M112's differences in fuel needs, there was a funky unplanned difference in the sending unit, right? Nope.
After much discussion, it was determined that the '32 and the Crossfire have the same sending unit part number. As pretty as the gauges were, they simply would not read the fuel level, and the gauge was constantly pinned to zero.
So, today, I admitted defeat, and brought my OEM gauge cluster (the one that came from MY car) back down to Steve's garage. I had carefully swapped the white face gauges from a regular SLK 320 (160 mph speedo, so my OEM gauge calibration would work) and replaced the needles as carefully as possible.
Remove the steering wheel, rip the car's interior apart, remove the AMG gauges, transfer the Crossfire plastic shroud back onto the OEM gauges, connect to the harnesses, reinstall, get everything back together, and ---- still no fuel.
Fuel gauge #2, this time my OEM gauge (which read perfectly fine before the AMG cluster install) is now flat-lined like the '32 gauges were.
Adding insult to injury, the needles weren't as "lined up" as I thought they were, b/c once I reconnected the negative cable, the temp gauge pegs 1/4" below the cold line, speedo 1/8" below 0mph and the tach needle is 3/8" below 0 RPM.
Those are easy fixes, basically I have to take the cluster back out and rotate the needles counter-clockwise until they zero-out, thus resetting the servo position.
But the fuel has me stumped.
Is there a fuse I should check? Can a sending unit just mysteriously "fail" with a cluster removal?
Odd that two totally different gauges would have the exact same problem. Either the sending unit is not communicating, the harness from the left side of the cluster is compromised, or... I don't know.
If it's the sending unit, I'm throwing the AMG gauges back in. Just seems odd to me that, the least complicated function of both gauges is the very portion that isn't working.
One side note -- seatbelt warning was silent with the AMG gauges installed - not even the dummy light. After installing the OEM gauges back in, the alarm is still silent, still no light.
I did, however, get the FSS indicator back.
Pointers/assumptions/educated guesses appreciated.
Here's the thread on my home forum, if you want to read their responses and form added opinions:
http://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/...l-no-fuel.html
Thank you all!!
