Fuel gage 3 bars to blinking

Just wanted to give everyone an update. I now have a little over 24K miles and the 3 bars to 1 is back. Sea foam appear to be a temporary fix at best. I am calling today to get it fixed under the warranty. I am printing selected posts from this thread to bring to the dealer so he cant bull**** me.
 
Since my extended warranty expires March, 2011 I decided to bite the bullet and take my 04 in for the fuel sending unit replacement. Well after 4 days at the dealer, they finally decided there was a problem since they started it and found 3 bars but no fuel in the upper tank (duh). So now will wait for the part to get in and installed. I think it will take at least 2 weeks or more for this process to play out and hope it works right. Thank God the ST is such a reliable bike. I don't think I would own a bike that had to spend 2-4 weeks at the dealer for relatively minor repairs/parts. I can only imagine what it would take in time if a major problem arose. 2-4 months maybe :confused:.

JDP
 
I dropped my bike off at the dealer last Friday, explained what the problem was and they said yup, i know the issue no problem. I went away for a week on vacation, came back and the bike was fixed. No issues. Left with the bike on 2 bars.
 
HOLD the presses, people. Don't let a dealer convince you that you need a new fuel pump assembly.

I had the same problem <--- click for the entire read

My problem was solved.

The first thing you need to do is call your dealer to make sure that all of your recall work is complete. The three-to-empty/three-to-flashing was caused by an electrical problem. In my case, I had a grounding wire as the culprit, which was solved by the recall work I'd neglected to do for 6 years...

There are a number of points around the fuel assembly and relays, apparently, that you can check with a voltmeter that will verify if it's electrical or fuel pump sourced (don't ask me what, though, since I'm a technical idiot - the dealer did mine.) :nuts1:
 
Mine had all the recalls it was supposed to have. The local dealer said they needed another part to finish the job. I'll go in tomorrow (now over 2 weeks at this dealer) to investigate since the unit is one piece on schematics. I am loosing faith in these guys, and it is the only thing I've had them do.

JDP
 
The latest on my 04 is that the shop replaced the sending unit in the upper tank, but the service tech said it still didnt' record as he felt it was supposed to. So now Honda has authorized them to put in a new fuel pump ($483 retail) since it is kinda all one unit with the lower tanks fuel measuring apparatus. I think if they had just done the upper unit and let me ride it, it would have solved the problem, but I am not gonna squawk if I get a new fuel pump out of the whole thing (assuming they do it all correctly) so waiting til that comes in. Waiting and hoping.

JDP
 
EASt said:
Good luck with it.

Did you have them check all the wiring?
Click to expand...

Yes, I specifically asked if there were any shorts or wiring issues. They said no, but of course, that is assuming they really looked for that. I do think they have a real desire to help, but it seems like it is the old plan of just replacing part after part chasing an issue. Oh well, they may well be right, and I sure hope it runs as good as before. All I wanted was a fuel guage that worked. If it works, then great. If it doesn't, I may regret ever taking it in. We'll see.

JDP
 
The transition to blinking happens when the thermistor in the tank is no longer submerged in fuel. That thermistor is part of the fuel pump assembly, and the fact that you go to blinking at all says there's nothing wrong with it.

--Mark
 
I hope that this is not too far off topic: since I replaced my battery, it seems like the my guage is not showing full anymore. It always seems to start down one or two bars, even when it is topped up to the rim. I read something earlier about having to reset this after changing a battery? How?
 
Blrfl said:
The transition to blinking happens when the thermistor in the tank is no longer submerged in fuel. That thermistor is part of the fuel pump assembly, and the fact that you go to blinking at all says there's nothing wrong with it.

--Mark
Click to expand...

I'm kinda thinking they really aren't sure what to do. In this part of the country with a small dealership, it could be the first ST1300 they have ever seen :(. So after the new parts are put in, I'm gonna take and ride it even if they want to throw more parts at it.

JDP
 
This JUST IN....the engine in my bike is being SEPARATED from the frame...film at 11....will post when I know more!:confused:
 
I got my bike back today after they replaced the fuel sender switch in the upper tank and the fuel pump/lower switch too. Parts alone over $560 and don't know about labor since all covered 100% under the extended warranty (woohoo). After they put the fuel pump in, it still didn't register correctly so they made their upteenth call to mother honda. The rep said, "did you recalibrate it?" Nothing manual about that, so they walked them through it. I never heard of this so maybe my fuel pump was OK, but got a new one anyway. It seems to be working and running fine so will now just wait til end of tankful of fuel to see how it goes.

Anyone know about the recalibration/reset deal?

JDP
 
Kempo-STer said:
This JUST IN....the engine in my bike is being SEPARATED from the frame...film at 11....will post when I know more!:confused:
Click to expand...

Because of the fuel gauge??


Just so y'all know, this thread was jinx. The gauge on my 04, which has performed perfectly for 80k miles, starting doin 3 to blinkin a couple weeks ago.

Not a big deal cause around here I usually don't get gas till it started blinkin anyway.

But with a western trip comin up soon, I kinda want it to work right.
 
GlenT said:
I hope that this is not too far off topic: since I replaced my battery, it seems like the my guage is not showing full anymore. It always seems to start down one or two bars, even when it is topped up to the rim. I read something earlier about having to reset this after changing a battery? How?
Click to expand...

Yup, my problems started right after a battery replacement too. Strange.
 
Just adding my 04 STeed to this list. Fixed my rear flange bearing failure and was on a three day ride, when i noticed the three bar gas gauge dropped right to the blinking single bar and miles were counting down to fuel future run out. No big deal, coming up was a little country gas station. Station closed! this no big deal, got bigger! Gas station's of the past, 45 miles, miles counting down 43! We made it and i put in US 6.957 gal. I now look at my trip meter and plan for fuel at 200 miles. I don't have the heart to down my STeed when the weather here is in the high 60's.
 
So . . . can anyone shed some light on the "recalibration/reset" procedure? My 3 bars to blinking came back but only when it's warm out. In the current cooler climate, it's back to working fine.

Shuey
 
Shuey said:
So . . . can anyone shed some light on the "recalibration/reset" procedure? My 3 bars to blinking came back but only when it's warm out. In the current cooler climate, it's back to working fine
Click to expand...

I believe that came in only with a new install of the lower gauge... for zero reference.
If you have the 3 bars to blinking it may be time to replace the upper tank float.
Seems many either get damaged easily with siphon hoses or just bend a bit some how... Some times a good soak with a filled tank and seafoam cleans the crud off the contacts... others just have to be replaced ( tho there was a thread a while back where someone re-bent his float and it worked )
 
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