 » Site Navigation | | | | » Recent Threads | | | |  |  |  |  07-26-2007, 10:35 PM | #1 | | Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Macon, Georgia Posts: 2 |  1996 Fuel Gauge on E
I just bought a 1996 318ti but the fuel gauge stays on E. I had some work done and the tech said the sending unit and the instrument cluster will need to be changed because there is a short in one of them causing the problem. Does this make sense? How hard is it to change the instrument cluster? The shop said it would be quite expensive but didn't give me a price. Also, how hard is it to change the sending unit? Thanks. |  |  | | 07-26-2007, 10:51 PM | #2 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stamford, CT <-> Boston, MA Posts: 1,393 |
Swapping clusters isn't very hard, but the odometer information is stored in your cluster IIRC. As for the sending unit, I'm not sure, I think there was a thread not too long ago discussing this kind of a problem. Do a search for gas gauge __________________ 
BMWCCA #403399
2012 Mini Cooper S Clubman, 6-Speed
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2001 325xi, Winter Package, 5-Speed
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1998 318ti, Active, Automatic, TOTAL LOSS R.I.P. 10/20/08
Bilstein Sport Shocks/Struts . H&R Sport Springs . Strut Reinforcement Plates . RSM Reinforcement Plates . Fogg Airbox . X-Brace . Bosal Brospeed Catback | | | | | 07-27-2007, 01:46 PM | #3 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 |
Check this post for info on how to test the fuel level sensors: http://www.318ti.org/forum/showpost....90&postcount=7 A $10 multimeter that measures ohms will tell you if either sensor is bad. From there, it's not a difficuly swap. I doubt it's the guage itself. __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 
2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport
2011 E92 M3  | | | | | 07-27-2007, 05:48 PM | #4 | | Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bouncing off the rev limiter in CT! Posts: 3,156 |
Very likely the fuel pump/sending unit.
Mine was replaced under warranty a few months after I bought it.
If the cluster had a short, ALL the gages would be going wacky, not just one of them. The E36 clusters are notorious for going bad, so this is the knee-jerk "diagnosis" of the problem by many "mechanics". Most of them have never even seen an actual bad cluster to know what one acts like...
Proceed with the sender test before buying any parts, but I'd bet a buck that's what it is...
Run the fuel down, as it's under the back seat in the fuel tank... | | | | | 07-27-2007, 06:07 PM | #5 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: 43609 Posts: 3,425 |
Dont forget, there are two sending units, so check them both. __________________ 1995 Hellrot Clubsport 318ti -Gone 1996 Schwartz II Sport 357ti - 5.7L V8 LS1/6 1997 Moregrun Metallic 318ti - Gone
1998 Schwartz II sport 318ti - M50TUB25/5 | | | | | 08-02-2007, 03:33 PM | #6 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: 909-281 Posts: 233 |
put the car in postion 2 and pump the brakes 5 times and then take the key off and start her up and see wat happen i had the same problem and now i have a new one car wont start __________________  SOLD so sad..... | | | | |
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