(T) sensor fault low fuel slight return

cmc knows and so does pm but has this bean diagnosed as a characteristic yet for 1,6 52 plate dinamics yet or is it a bit more sinister ,for you guys who dont know what im on about ,when youve got about a quarter of a tank and start your engine in the morning the fuel needle goes down to zero the yellow light flashes and the low fuel sensor reads on the display then the the needle goes back up to normal,weird or what ,this only happens when ive got around about a quarter of a tank or less ,i mean if im low on petrol im not that thick to realise that soon ,im quite able to realise when the reserve light comes on with the low petrol readout ,or is the 1.6 extra careful seems how its uneconomical ,about 30 mpg at the moment i have seen 24.6 mpg but that was my wife going to work and back ,please all you tech heads answer me and cmc,s prayers cheers

For anyone who doesn't know here's the thread

http://www.fiatforum.com/showthread....l+level+sensor

Andy mine's has never been fixed and I just fill up when it hits half way now. I have had new instrument panel, full examiner diagnostics, new fuel pump with fuel sensor and nothing has worked. I think it may be a problem with the battery and a temporary low voltage on startup (but I don't know why it doesn't do it when full then).

cmc

Might not do it when its full as the resistance of the fuel level sensor will change, and the Body Computer may misread low current / low voltage (due to lower capacity battery) as a Fuel Level Sensor Fault.

I had this once when I had the spell of ABS, ASR, EBD, Fuel Level Sensor, Car Security Failure faults. Got my local dealer to put a JTD's battery in and, touch wood, car is much better for it; haven't had a single error message since (awaits the phone call from home to say the dash has exploded!)

Maybe FIAT underestimated the battery requirements for the 1.6, hence this is why this fault seems to occur only on these engine variants?? Try putting in a new battery; I had mine done under warranty.

cheers guys,usual faces may only apply,i just wish we wasnt the only people with this problem,surely if it was a general problem there would be a lot more replys ,but there isnt ,which makes me think there could still be a fault that can be fixed ,but untill somebody tells us what can we do ,the battery option is proberbly the answer and thanks rrope for suggesting this,thanks again

rrope,when you say new battery,which one do you mean dude

when i said usual faces i didnt mean literally i would love to know anybodyelses views ,the only reason why i said that was because it only seems to be about 3 people with the same issue

Hi Andy

It's what we're here for! I just wish FIAT Auto would read this site and take on our experiences to help sort out problems that other people may have.

As with the battery upgrade, I asked for the Stilo JTD's battery to go in. I tested the battery (I work at halfords so have access to decent battery testing equipment), and it read fine for a month (tested it every sunday). The car has never had a problem starting so I assume that the battery is being fully charged (and I only do 3 mile stop-start journeys).

My Stilo also had what looked like an earthing fault; for example, if the hazards were flashing, the interior lights would ever so slightly dim down in sequence. This has also been eliminated.

My view on it is that, when the Body Computer is doing the initial "Checking" sequence, it is misreading low-voltages (caused by a low capacity battery) as component failure, hence causing these errors.

Finally, I experienced the fuel level sensor fault in the last week of my old battery, when the startup faults got worse. Ever since, TOUCH WOOD, I've never had a startup failure (the new battery has been in there for about 8 months I guess).

Hope that helps!