The Ford Capri Laser Page

I took my 2.8 for its mot today. Fuel gauge was working fine. When I got home it wasn't. Spooky huh

I did actually need two attempts for the test. One of the things it failed on was the dash lights being really dim, so dim that you couldn't see them. Sorted it out by removing the dash and whipping out a couple of the blue light diffusers and thought I must have cocked something up causing the gauge to fail. So took it all out again and could find nothing amiss. Turned out to be the earth on the tank - which hadn't been touched!

Hey Rob,

Sorry to join the 'mot pass' party late ! I must pay more attention

Fantastic news on the pass mate. Brilliant !!! Yep as said never a doubt ( although we always do ourselves ) and I must echo how great your Capri looks mate. Nice one

Glad to hear you have seem to have got to the bottom of your fuel gauge issue. Hope it all goes well mate and you get it working.

All the best mate

Nick

Hi Peter,
I'm pleased to hear that your 2.8 passed the MOT.
Rob must have jinxed us all by mentioning tank senders, who will suffer the curse next?

Peter-S wrote:One of the things it failed on was the dash lights being really dim, so dim that you couldn't see them.

I haven't heard of anybody failing on that point before, is it one of the new test items that were recently introduced?

Andrew.

Andrew 2.8i wrote: I haven't heard of anybody failing on that point before, is it one of the new test items that were recently introduced?

Andrew.

I was told you have to be able to read the speedo at night. Seemed new, yes.

The Speedo does have to be illuminated, I don't think that's a new thing, my tester mentioned it a year or two back, telling me that the bulb had gone but he will let it go. But it hadn't gone, he just didn't notice it was actually illuminated!

I've just checked the MOT test manual, or whatever it's called, and it states that the tester is to "check that the speedometer can be illuminated". That's been in place since 2012 at least, but I've never had it mentioned before....the LEDs in my dash must be doing their job!

Andrew.

Sorry I jinxed you Peter . Ok, a quick update. Changed the regulator & unfortunately, nothing's changed . At least I can eliminate that. Reading still below 4v so something else must be causing it. May have to find an auto electrician. On a plus point, it failed to start once last weekend, ignition light didn't illuminate. Bulb was loose when I took out clocks so that solved that, every cloud etc

Glad to here your car went threw the mot ok never new that the lights had to be ok , learn something new on here every day .

Caprifan Rob wrote: Reading still below 4v so something else must be causing it.

Hi Rob,
Just to double check, take the wire off the temperature sender and test the voltage there. That should also be 5V.

Andrew.

Andrew 2.8i wrote:

Caprifan Rob wrote: Reading still below 4v so something else must be causing it.

Hi Rob,
Just to double check, take the wire off the temperature sender and test the voltage there. That should also be 5V.

Andrew.

Yes this is a good check to make sure the voltage reg behind the dash is working correctly. Another few things to consider is how accurate is your volt meter and find a good earth on the car when checking the possitive feed to the tank don't rely on the other lead going to the tank. And clean up the sender terminals if you haven't already.

I'm having problems with mine at the moment where it only goes to 3/4 when I fill up. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but I'm guessing its a bad earth on my car.

All the best
Neil

sheff wrote:

Andrew 2.8i wrote:

Caprifan Rob wrote: Reading still below 4v so something else must be causing it.

Hi Rob,
Just to double check, take the wire off the temperature sender and test the voltage there. That should also be 5V.

Andrew.

Yes this is a good check to make sure the voltage reg behind the dash is working correctly. Another few things to consider is how accurate is your volt meter and find a good earth on the car when checking the possitive feed to the tank don't rely on the other lead going to the tank. And clean up the sender terminals if you haven't already.

I'm having problems with mine at the moment where it only goes to 3/4 when I fill up. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but I'm guessing its a bad earth on my car.

All the best
Neil

Hi Neil. I've checked the temp sensor and its reading 5v, fuel sender is around 3.5v. The sender is brand new so connections there are fine & an alternative earth shows up same reading. I'm guessing running new feed wiring from dash to sender may solve the issue but don't fancy ripping dash & carpets back out to do it. May get old one repaired again & cut my losses.
Good luck with yours, hope you solve it easier than me.
Cheers, Rob

Caprifan Rob wrote: Hi Neil. I've checked the temp sensor and its reading 5v, fuel sender is around 3.5v. The sender is brand new so connections there are fine & an alternative earth shows up same reading. I'm guessing running new feed wiring from dash to sender may solve the issue but don't fancy ripping dash & carpets back out to do it. May get old one repaired again & cut my losses.
Good luck with yours, hope you solve it easier than me.
Cheers, Rob

I think you're right it must be the wiring from the dash to the tank sender. Good luck with fixing that and here's hoping my problem is a little simpler.

All the best
Neil

Just an update on this, when I removed the new sender last month & checked continuity, it wasn’t reading anything until quite close to the top of its travel. Had my original repaired again & that reads on the full travel. Must have been a dodgy sender.
Credit where it’s due, phoned CCI & returned unit & had a full refund including postage.
Original unit now working perfectly again though for how long I’m not sure, cross that bridge when I come to it

Hi Rob,
Glad you've got it sorted. Did you fix your sender yourself or did you take it somewhere to be fixed?

Andrew.

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi Rob,
Glad you've got it sorted. Did you fix your sender yourself or did you take it somewhere to be fixed?

Andrew.

Cheers Andrew. Had 2 broken windings re soldered at work. The wound wire is so thin it’s easy to see why they break. Still it’s working perfectly for now so I know where I am.
Thought I’d update thread not to leave it unfinished. Lasted 3 years last time

Thanks for the update Rob.
It's good that the last repair lasted 3 years, hopefully this repair will beat that. Couldn't the person who repaired it re-wind with new wire to make it last longer before another repair is necessary?
I was hoping you might have found us all an alternative to buying a new sender, but sadly it's not to be...

Andrew

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Thanks for the update Rob.
It's good that the last repair lasted 3 years, hopefully this repair will beat that. Couldn't the person who repaired it re-wind with new wire to make it last longer before another repair is necessary?
I was hoping you might have found us all an alternative to buying a new sender, but sadly it's not to be...

Andrew

In fairnes Andrew, he said he’d be up for giving it a go if he knew what wire it was. So if anyone knows the thickness & material it’s made from, please let me know

Caprifan Rob wrote: So if anyone knows the thickness & material it’s made from, please let me know

According to Mattswinn's repair thread, Kanthal A1 0.15mm wire is a very close match to the original.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kanthal-Wire-3 ... al+a1+0.15

Andrew.

If it helps, the winding needs to read 20 Ohms on full and 75 Ohms for empty.

Andrew.

Andrew 2.8i wrote:If it helps, the winding needs to read 20 Ohms on full and 75 Ohms for empty.

Andrew.

Cheers Andrew. I’ll have a word tomorrow