New Instr. Cluster in 93 Corolla - Gas Gauge Issue

Hi folks -

new to the group - looks like lots of good discussion in here. I have
an issue you might be able to help with ....

I have a 93 Corolla - about 170k on it, all told. I recently bought a
new cluster (well, new to me - it was actually used), cause my speedo
had stopped working. Cluster looked great, had it installed, and the
speedo issue seems to be OK. But ....

The gas gauge is not working as before. The needle moves very little
at first (I put in 7 gallons once, and the needle had been almost at
the 3/4 full mark). I am currently almost done with a tank, and the
needle is lower (between 1/8 and 1/4, and I think I have about 2
gallons left), so it seems to catch up with itself later on in the
tank.

The cluster, when I got it, said that it was for a 93-95 Corolla. So,
I am thinking that this gauge issue COULD be a coincidence (though I
doubt it), or it could be that the cluster I have might have been from
a 94 or 95, and my fuel tank sensor is sending a signal that it not
being read correctly. Just a guess on my part.

Anyone have any insights into this? I have been using the trip
odometer since I found this out, and that is a good way to avoid
getting stuck - but it still bugs the heck out of me. I would like to
get this fixed, if it is not too expensive ....

thanks !

Jason B

<Buckman98@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1163988406.436983.127290@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> Hi folks -
>
> new to the group - looks like lots of good discussion in here. I have
> an issue you might be able to help with ....
>
> I have a 93 Corolla - about 170k on it, all told. I recently bought a
> new cluster (well, new to me - it was actually used), cause my speedo
> had stopped working. Cluster looked great, had it installed, and the
> speedo issue seems to be OK. But ....
>
> The gas gauge is not working as before. The needle moves very little
> at first (I put in 7 gallons once, and the needle had been almost at
> the 3/4 full mark). I am currently almost done with a tank, and the
> needle is lower (between 1/8 and 1/4, and I think I have about 2
> gallons left), so it seems to catch up with itself later on in the
> tank.
>
> The cluster, when I got it, said that it was for a 93-95 Corolla. So,
> I am thinking that this gauge issue COULD be a coincidence (though I
> doubt it), or it could be that the cluster I have might have been from
> a 94 or 95, and my fuel tank sensor is sending a signal that it not
> being read correctly. Just a guess on my part.
>
> Anyone have any insights into this? I have been using the trip
> odometer since I found this out, and that is a good way to avoid
> getting stuck - but it still bugs the heck out of me. I would like to
> get this fixed, if it is not too expensive ....
>
> thanks !
>
> Jason B
>[/color]

Toyota uses 2 different kinds of fuel gauges. One type shows fuel level
even when the ignition is off, and when the tank is filled, moves to the
full position slowly. The other type only shows fuel level when the
ignition is on and the needle moves pretty quickly. I don't know which type
your car has.

Try filling the tank and seeing if it moves to the full mark, and when it
gets to the 3/4 mark, re-filling to see if approximately a quarter of the
tank's capacity goes in, then doing the same at the 1/2 to see if 1/2 of the
capacity goes in, and again at 1/4 tank to see if approx. 1/4 of the
capacity goes in.

Check to see if the connection for the fuel gauge at the back of the
instrument cluster is tight.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:08:06 -0600, "Ray O"
<rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
><Buckman98@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1163988406.436983.127290@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
>> Hi folks -
>>
>> new to the group - looks like lots of good discussion in here. I have
>> an issue you might be able to help with ....
>>
>> I have a 93 Corolla - about 170k on it, all told. I recently bought a
>> new cluster (well, new to me - it was actually used), cause my speedo
>> had stopped working. Cluster looked great, had it installed, and the
>> speedo issue seems to be OK. But ....
>>
>> The gas gauge is not working as before. The needle moves very little
>> at first (I put in 7 gallons once, and the needle had been almost at
>> the 3/4 full mark). I am currently almost done with a tank, and the
>> needle is lower (between 1/8 and 1/4, and I think I have about 2
>> gallons left), so it seems to catch up with itself later on in the
>> tank.
>>
>> The cluster, when I got it, said that it was for a 93-95 Corolla. So,
>> I am thinking that this gauge issue COULD be a coincidence (though I
>> doubt it), or it could be that the cluster I have might have been from
>> a 94 or 95, and my fuel tank sensor is sending a signal that it not
>> being read correctly. Just a guess on my part.
>>
>> Anyone have any insights into this? I have been using the trip
>> odometer since I found this out, and that is a good way to avoid
>> getting stuck - but it still bugs the heck out of me. I would like to
>> get this fixed, if it is not too expensive ....
>>
>> thanks !
>>
>> Jason B
>>[/color]
>
>Toyota uses 2 different kinds of fuel gauges. One type shows fuel level
>even when the ignition is off, and when the tank is filled, moves to the
>full position slowly. The other type only shows fuel level when the
>ignition is on and the needle moves pretty quickly. I don't know which type
>your car has.[/color]

If it is like my '92 Wagon...it is the slow type..

[color=blue]
>
>Try filling the tank and seeing if it moves to the full mark, and when it
>gets to the 3/4 mark, re-filling to see if approximately a quarter of the
>tank's capacity goes in, then doing the same at the 1/2 to see if 1/2 of the
>capacity goes in, and again at 1/4 tank to see if approx. 1/4 of the
>capacity goes in.
>
>Check to see if the connection for the fuel gauge at the back of the
>instrument cluster is tight.
>--
>
>Ray O
>(correct punctuation to reply)[/color]

--

Scott in Florida

[color=blue]
>
> If it is like my '92 Wagon...it is the slow type..
>
>[/color]

Yeah, it is the slow type.

I am going to call my mechanic to have him check the connection (he is
the one who put the cluster in). At least some of the connections are
fine - when I fill it, it goes right up! It is the other direction
that seems to be an issue ......

Any idea is the ful tank sensor might send a different signal,
depending in the year? I was wondering if that might be the issue
.......

<Buckman98@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1163992759.765655.313400@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>
>[color=green]
>>
>> If it is like my '92 Wagon...it is the slow type..
>>
>>[/color]
>
> Yeah, it is the slow type.
>
> I am going to call my mechanic to have him check the connection (he is
> the one who put the cluster in). At least some of the connections are
> fine - when I fill it, it goes right up! It is the other direction
> that seems to be an issue ......[/color]

If the fuel gauge moves to the full position when filling the tank, then the
connections are fine.

Are you saying that the gauge shows a higher fuel level than is actually in
the tank? In other words, when the gauge shows 1/2 full, can you put in
more than half of the tank's capacity when filling up?
[color=blue]
>
> Any idea is the ful tank sensor might send a different signal,
> depending in the year? I was wondering if that might be the issue
> ......[/color]

The fuel tank sender doesn't really send a signal. The sender is basically
a rheostat connected to a float. As the float rises, the sender sends
higher voltage to the gauge, and the higher the voltage, the higher the
gauge reads.

I doubt if the voltages differ depending on model year, and I am not aware
of any reference that compares voltages between model years. As far as I
know, the only way to tell is to look at the repair manuals for each model
year to determine the specified voltage.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On 19 Nov 2006 19:19:19 -0800, [email]Buckman98@hotmail.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>[color=green]
>>
>> If it is like my '92 Wagon...it is the slow type..
>>
>>[/color]
>
>Yeah, it is the slow type.
>
>I am going to call my mechanic to have him check the connection (he is
>the one who put the cluster in). At least some of the connections are
>fine - when I fill it, it goes right up! It is the other direction
>that seems to be an issue ......
>
>Any idea is the ful tank sensor might send a different signal,
>depending in the year? I was wondering if that might be the issue
>......[/color]

I have no idea, but I would doubt it.

I looked in my factory repair manual, and it mentions two types of
gauges depending on whether the dash has a tach or not. The voltages
and resistance of the circuits is the same...just that there is a
damping oil in the fuel gauge with a tach.


--

Scott in Florida

Sorry if I was not clear on this - my bad.

For the most part, I am able to put more gas in the tank than I expect
to. For instance, when the guage was reading a little below 3/4 full,
I thought I would put in up to 4 gallons (an 11 gallon tank, or so). I
put in a little over 7, and that has happened twice - so I there seems
to be some consistency to it. That is very different than what I would
have experienced with the old gauge. From the 3/4 to 1/4 makrs on the
guage, it moves pretty fast - maybe 100 miles (about 3 gallons worth).
So, the top 1/4 to 3/8 of the guage moves lots slower than it should,
and then is goes very fast.

Interesting about the tach/non-tack cluster difference. My original
one never had one, and this new one does not either, so I think I am OK
there.

As I mentioned, I am going to have my mechanic check the connection. I
suppose that he might have tweaked something when he installed this new
cluster. I am just not car-savvy enough to know what :(

<Buckman98@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1163996543.734886.275890@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> Sorry if I was not clear on this - my bad.
>
> For the most part, I am able to put more gas in the tank than I expect
> to. For instance, when the guage was reading a little below 3/4 full,
> I thought I would put in up to 4 gallons (an 11 gallon tank, or so). I
> put in a little over 7, and that has happened twice - so I there seems
> to be some consistency to it. That is very different than what I would
> have experienced with the old gauge.[/color]

I do not have an explantion for what you are experiencing without actually
seeing the gauge and knowing the actual capacity of your fuel tank.

From the 3/4 to 1/4 makrs on the[color=blue]
> guage, it moves pretty fast - maybe 100 miles (about 3 gallons worth).
> So, the top 1/4 to 3/8 of the guage moves lots slower than it should,
> and then is goes very fast.
>[/color]

This movement is typical of Toyota fuel gauges.
[color=blue]
> Interesting about the tach/non-tack cluster difference. My original
> one never had one, and this new one does not either, so I think I am OK
> there.
>
> As I mentioned, I am going to have my mechanic check the connection. I
> suppose that he might have tweaked something when he installed this new
> cluster. I am just not car-savvy enough to know what :(
>[/color]
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)