Problems with fuel

[Project Lazarus]

Hello everyone!

I am new to this forum, but would appreciate any feedback from you folks.

I am in the process of restoring a 92 Corolla DX, 3-speed automatic, 1.6L. I recently upgraded the instrument cluster with one that has a tachometer. The donor vehicle was an 89 Corolla LE. The connection was pretty easy since Toyota had already prewired the tach. My only problem is that whenever I fill up at the gas station, the needle on the fuel gauge does not go all the way up to the full "F" mark. It actually stays just above the 3/4 mark and stays there.

Would you guys happen to know the cause of this problem? I believe the 89 Corolla is carburatored, while the 92 is fuel injected, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. Could it be that the fuel tank capacities are different for these model years?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[dx-r]

I have that exact problem when I switched clusters on my 88 Corolla. Maybe the fuel tank on the FI version is bigger? Also I notice that the new cluster doesn't have a CE light on it.

[RedAE102]

When I've done all my switching around of clusters, I've found that the needle will stabilise after running through a tank and then refilling it. By this, I mean just driving the car like normal till it gets to ¼ tank or whenever you usually fill it up with petrol. If, when you fill the petrol tank again, it doesn't go back to where it should be, then just open up the cluster and manually move the gauge up to where it should be (slightly above F).

[Project Lazarus]

Thanks for the replies, DX-R and RedAE102.

I tried running the car below quarter tank, but the needle still did not go all the way to the "F" mark after filling up. Last weekend, I took another trip to scrapyard and found the fuel tank floater from the same car where I got the cluster from. I have a feeling that I need to get the corresponding floater in order for the gauge to read the proper fuel reading. It was relatively easy to pull things from the scrapped car, but I am always careful tearing down mine. I'll keep you folks updated as to what happens when I install the "new" floater.

In the mean time, I am also planning to upgrade my sparkplug wires. Any recommendations? Any brands I should steer clear from? Again, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[michael9413]

Ya guys i face the same problem also...
I have change my dead 1.3 engine into a 1.5... recently...
I found that my fuel gauge always bounce up and down...
too sensitive... I'll take it back to the mechanics and have a check again next week to double check everything...

[Dicipleofthelie]

my 86 fwd corolla does kinda the same thing.....but when i fill it up....the gas gauge doesnt even register untill i hit 1/2 tank then its accurate....weird