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Post by badger900 on Mar 12, 2014 9:22:04 GMT
Hi,
Just acquired an XJ900 and really pleased with it.
Probably a silly question but my XJ900 has the usual problem of the fuel gauge not working. What I would like to know is does that mean that the fuel light will not work when I run low on petrol either - are the gauge and the light part of the same mechanism? If that is the case, what could I reasonably expect from a tank in order to know when to fill up?
Thank you all,
Ben
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Post by HRHpenfold on Mar 12, 2014 9:33:58 GMT
the light is connected to the fuel level sender, but it's not the part of the sender that commonly fails, it is an independant part, so probably still works,
if you fill up every 160 miles, riding normally, then you should be fine, its probably about 180 miles to the light coming on with a bike in good fettle!
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Post by neilmud Lord Protector on Mar 12, 2014 9:35:51 GMT
think they are separate so light should work expect 180-200 miles to a tank
Neil
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Post by paullewis on Mar 12, 2014 15:09:43 GMT
Is there any way of testing the light other than running out of fuel when you realise it doesn't work?
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Post by christhedivvy on Mar 13, 2014 7:55:10 GMT
My fuel light level recently gave up. The gauge gave up years ago. Flick the kill switch off. Ignition on. Press the stater button. The low fuel light should illuminate. If it doesn't change the lamp. If it does it light up it looks like the level sensor has given up. I've just replaced my sender unit last week and now is all fully functioning which is strange after 50k miles.  |
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Post by CD on Mar 15, 2014 10:28:45 GMT
To get at the instrument bulbs, the fairing has to come off. So get some spare rubber wellnuts and fit LED bulbs. However use a normal bulb -
- in main beam - LED is too bright
- in fuel low level - wont work with an LED.
The tank holds just over 22 litres (not 25 as the specs often say). The bike will easily do 220 miles from full to empty and a lot more if its not blasting down the motorway. Full to low level light is 18 litres so its easy enough to work out from the mileage trip how many more miles to empty.
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Post by badger900 on Mar 15, 2014 20:27:01 GMT
Thank you all for your responses.
It's wierd as the fuel light works when you have the kill switch to off and hit the starter button.
I was at 200 miles today and the fuel light still had not come on. What number would you expect the fuel light to kick in at? Is there any other way to check if it's working?
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Post by neilmud Lord Protector on Mar 16, 2014 13:09:28 GMT
Thank you all for your responses. It's wierd as the fuel light works when you have the kill switch to off and hit the starter button. I was at 200 miles today and the fuel light still had not come on. What number would you expect the fuel light to kick in at? Is there any other way to check if it's working? You must ride like a girlie (ducks down from the incoming flack especially from Southampton) take a bottle of petrol with you & run it till it stops or drain the tank at home, may be worth doing to see how much crud is in the bottom of the tank. Neil |
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Post by christhedivvy on Mar 16, 2014 13:23:12 GMT
If you can't manage using the trip meter on the Speedo for calculating fuel. You'll need a new sender unit as it's knackered.
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Post by CD on Mar 18, 2014 8:44:34 GMT
The lights flashing on engine start are normal so you know the bulbs are working.
The level gauge is useless even when it does work. But as Chris says if the low level light isnt working the unit will have to be replaced.
The level gauge reads nothing for 1/3 tank then drops to zero over the next 1/3. Finally at 1/4 remaining the low fuel light (should) come on. We only really need a fuel gauge when the level is low but the standard decorative rubbish has long since given up.
Set the trip, carry some spare fuel and run the tank dry. Then you'll know how far the bike goes with your riding style. I used to get 220 miles from just over 22 litres - full to empty.
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Post by blodfoot on Mar 18, 2014 22:43:45 GMT
My fuel guage is on red on only 120-130 miles. Is it very pessimistic?
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Post by CD on Mar 19, 2014 15:23:15 GMT
They all do that. The gauge is little more than entertainment value, so take some spare fuel and run the bike dry. You will then know ho many miles to the warning light. You can safely ignore the gauge if the warning light works.
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Post by neilmud Lord Protector on Mar 19, 2014 15:31:45 GMT
They all do that. The gauge is little more than entertainment value, so take some spare fuel and run the bike dry. You will then know ho many miles to the warning light. You can safely ignore the gauge if the warning light works. I would not run it dry in your situation without first draining the tank to check for water that will test your fuel light without the chance of filling carbs & fuel filter with crud & giving yourself even more work & while tank is off (if you remove it to drain no need to but.... )you can visually check sender. Neil |
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Post by CD on Mar 19, 2014 19:03:34 GMT
If you take the fuel gauge base off the petrol tank you could maybe CAREFULLY bend the float arm so it allows the float to go down lower before its end of travel. It will start to read later but the real concern is when fuel is low rather than high.
With the tank open you can clean out any clag as Neil suggests.
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Post by deefer on May 3, 2014 22:24:24 GMT
I think the gauge is quite accurate on mine. Get 170-180 miles before it goes into the red and the warning light comes on.
Take the bike to 200 miles and it had a 1 litre or so left.
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Post by chris900divvy on May 4, 2014 22:13:30 GMT
Thank you all for your responses. It's wierd as the fuel light works when you have the kill switch to off and hit the starter button. I was at 200 miles today and the fuel light still had not come on. What number would you expect the fuel light to kick in at? Is there any other way to check if it's working? I suppose you could drain the fuel tank and see if it starts to illuminate when down to just a few litres. I think there's roughly about a gallon left in the tank when mine illuminates and it coincides with the red bit of the gauge. I wouldn't expect there to be many miles left in the tank after 200 unless you are really riding steadily, to be on the safe side as said you would want to top up at around the 160 mile mark from full. If you find the fuel light never comes up you may be best scouring Ebay for a used sender unit if you don't want to pay £100 (?) for a new one, generally even a partially knackered sender unit will still give you a fuel low warning light even if the gauge itself reads nothing...Have to be careful though as I had the same issue with mine as you seem to be having, the low fuel light wasn't coming up rectified with a replacement sender unit from the ever useful Ebay...I ran out of petrol a couple of times before concluding it wasn't going to work again. It is unusual for both the warning light and gauge to not be working at the same time but is not an impossible occurrence. The bit which tends to break on the sender unit is the little cam shaped pick-up whose little arms snap off, the part can be replaced cheaply with the one from a Kaisar 125 which will give you a few more miles of the gauge before it inevitably breaks again! |
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Post by CD on May 8, 2014 22:38:22 GMT
I drilled out the plastic body to suit some brass tube bought from a model shop. A length of tube epoxied to the float arm pivot solves the usual wear and contacts tracking problem.
Sent from a widget that can't spell.
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