Fuel gauge problem

javahaxxor

javahaxxor

Wizard
www.ibm.com
So my fuel gauge drops abruptly after indicating half tank. From half tank to reserve it's about 35 KM or 22 miles. This must be a defect. Can you replace the fuel meter device ? Does the Gen I bike have the same problem ? If not, could one fit one from the Gen I to the Gen II bike to solve the problem ?
What does Yamaha have to say about this ? I can't be the first one who's not liking this.

I also noticed that it's about 13 - 13,5 liters from reserve to full tank (to the bottom of the filler tube), which added to the 3,8 liters of reserve leaves about 1 liter of tank space unaccounted for. Could this be related to the fuel meter also ?
 
javahaxxor said:
So my fuel gauge drops abruptly after indicating half tank. From half tank to reserve it's about 35 KM or 22 miles. This must be a defect. Can you replace the fuel meter device ? Does the Gen I bike have the same problem ? If not, could one fit one from the Gen I to the Gen II bike to solve the problem ?
What does Yamaha have to say about this ? I can't be the first one who's not liking this.

I also noticed that it's about 13 - 13,5 liters from reserve to full tank (to the bottom of the filler tube), which added to the 3,8 liters of reserve leaves about 1 liter of tank space unaccounted for. Could this be related to the fuel meter also ?
Click to expand...

It may be a problem with the unit in the tank. I have a GenI and do not have any problems with the fuel gauge. Also, yours is digital while the GenI gauge is analog. Maybe some members with GenII's can shed some light. When you show reserve on your instrument cluster, are you physically out of gas?
 
FZ1riderNY said:
It may be a problem with the unit in the tank. I have a GenI and do not have any problems with the fuel gauge. Also, yours is digital while the GenI gauge is analog. Maybe some members with GenII's can shed some light. When you show reserve on your instrument cluster, are you physically out of gas?
Click to expand...

when reserve comes up on the display (the last click on the fuel gauge starts blinking) it's 3,8 liters left (1 gallon).

HERE's a review for the 2009 FZ1 where the guy has the exact same problem, and I know a couple more.
 
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Bars vs km.

javahaxxor said:
when reserve comes up on the display (the last click on the fuel gauge starts blinking) it's 3,8 liters left (1 gallon).

HERE's a review for the 2009 FZ1 where the guy has the exact same problem, and I know a couple more.
Click to expand...

The gauge in the tank is more apt to give you an incorrect reading when it is below half. Just as with anolog gauges that bounce around with the fuel being able to physically move around in the tank. If you are just droning down a straight highway I believe you will find that you get the same number of km. per bar. If you are ripping throught the twisties you will get false readings on the gauge that will correct themselves once you are on level ground( or stop and put the bike on the center stand , stop and restart the motor). You get false readings if your bike is sitting on the side stand when you start it,(especially if it is on a bit of a slope as well). The readings take about thirty seconds to correct once the bike is properly vertical.
I have actually measured whether this is so from what a full tank gives divided by the 6 bars. Then keeping an eye on what I get out of each bar as they disappear. It is very consistant until the last bar. Even it is close. The last gallon is when the final bar starts to flash and the "F-Trip" starts to count up from 0. I have only gone about 35 km into it and always go into "fuel conservation riding mode" at that point. Like any vehicle you get to know (based on how you are driving it that day) what range to expect from it. I never rely on a gauge to do my thinking for me.:rmwl:
 
In my 07 I don't notice any difference in miles per bar between the top half or bottom half. But a funny thing happened on my recent ride with Billy and Tony. We were riding on level ground (rt 22) when I got the 2-bars flashing. Then it seemed to drop to one bar rather quickly. Then it dropped again to no bars. When we pulled in for gas all it took was 3.53 gallons to fill it. The tank has 4.76 gallon capacity. So with no bars I still had about 1.25 gallons left ??? Doers that sound right?
 
Steve F said:
In my 07 I don't notice any difference in miles per bar between the top half or bottom half. But a funny thing happened on my recent ride with Billy and Tony. We were riding on level ground (rt 22) when I got the 2-bars flashing. Then it seemed to drop to one bar rather quickly. Then it dropped again to no bars. When we pulled in for gas all it took was 3.53 gallons to fill it. The tank has 4.76 gallon capacity. So with no bars I still had about 1.25 gallons left ??? Doers that sound right?
Click to expand...

no it doesn't. And I get the sudden gauge drop driving on the freeway, so it's no knee-scraping twisties. I'll see what Yamaha have to say about this
 
After almost a year my 08 seems to work fine but it is possble that there may be some bad tank sensors out there that got by quality control. I'd be talking to my dealer.
 
ive noticed varying inconsistancies as well, i looked ito swapping for the older ones but with the gen 2 being feul injection the gauge is incorperated with the feul pump which is situated inside the tank ,so i think i can live with it for now rather than pay for a new feul pump !!!
 
stonesie said:
ive noticed varying inconsistancies as well, i looked ito swapping for the older ones but with the gen 2 being feul injection the gauge is incorperated with the feul pump which is situated inside the tank ,so i think i can live with it for now rather than pay for a new feul pump !!!
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Damn, that means that replacement would be expensive in case it's not considered a warranty issue
 
looked into this a little further, im not sure but i think the feul sender is attatched to the feul pump and can be replaced seperatly, ill let ya know if i can find out !!!
 
fuel guage

Same sort of issue in Aus with 2007 N, fuel gauge. it is accurate if ridden from full to empty without stopping, but if i stop and put on side stand guage becomes ouy of calibration, can go onto flashing reserve from anywhere from 3lt to 8 lt left in tank.
I use trip metr as guage
Cheers
Pz
 
Update

I've been at my local dealer, they screwed off the tank and the fuel meter inside the tank. It doesn't show anything in particular (or so they say) but they are ordering a new one. Everything is free of charge, and covered by the 3 year extended warranty.

By the way, the mechanic says that the extended warranty can be considered voided if you don't service it every year, even if you don't put any miles on it. Yamaha could say that it says in the owners manual that you should change the oil, every XX miles, or every year, so if they want to, they can screw you in case you forgot to do a yearly service. This for me meant changing the oil at the dealership.
 
javahaxxor said:
I've been at my local dealer, they screwed off the tank and the fuel meter inside the tank. It doesn't show anything in particular (or so they say) but they are ordering a new one. Everything is free of charge, and covered by the 3 year extended warranty.

By the way, the mechanic says that the extended warranty can be considered voided if you don't service it every year, even if you don't put any miles on it. Yamaha could say that it says in the owners manual that you should change the oil, every XX miles, or every year, so if they want to, they can screw you in case you forgot to do a yearly service. This for me meant changing the oil at the dealership.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have the extended warranty too. I'll have to go back and read the fine print.
 
I have never had the problem with my 2005 FZ but I have had the fuel guage problem with a previous bike. I had the problem with my 84 FJ1100 and it ended up being a bad Fuel sending unit. It was easily changed out and could use the unit from other years as long as the wire connections matched up. However not having had the problem with the FZ I am unaware of how the sending units are now, but I would imagine that could easily be your problem. Hope you get it figured out.
 
Stevil25 said:
I have never had the problem with my 2005 FZ but I have had the fuel guage problem with a previous bike. I had the problem with my 84 FJ1100 and it ended up being a bad Fuel sending unit. It was easily changed out and could use the unit from other years as long as the wire connections matched up. However not having had the problem with the FZ I am unaware of how the sending units are now, but I would imagine that could easily be your problem. Hope you get it figured out.
Click to expand...

thanks, I'll let the mechanic know tomorrow, I hope he came to the same conclusion
 
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