[GKee]

My Captur diesel has a faulty fuel gauge.
When the fuel tank is filled the gauge indicates full but remains that way until 3 gallons have been consumed when it begins to fall. Therafter we don't really know whats in the tank.
The onbooard computer helps in calculating fuel but we shouldn't have to do this.
The dealer has investigated and their diagnostic system can not identify the problem so they have pronounced the vehicle in 'full working order'. This has been backed up by Renault Customer Services.
Renault Customer service currently rated at zero.

Does any other Captur user have this problem or is it isolated to my vehicle only ?

 

[Dan]

Wow that is bad behavior from your dealer. I do hate the way sometimes their trained technicians rely solely on what their computers tell them without actually doing any problem solving themselves.

Now I am by no means technical but I suspect it could only be a couple of things - either the electronics that's reading the data or the fuel gage, float thing in the actual tank.

You could try disconnecting your battery for half an hour or so to see if that resets anything.

 

[TC Eddy]

When I collected mine the dealer had half filled the tank (petrol) so shortly after collection I took it up to the full tank mark.......mine too seemed to take ages to move down and also did suddenly begin to fall I think its one of those things owners will get used to as long as I still get 50mpg I will be happy!
It was the first time I was glad to see a fuel gauge fall......my last car 19mpg I could see it move down rapid

pleased with the economy of the Captur so far!!
Hope you are sorted soon GK!

 

[Dal]

Now this may seem an odd reply, but, how do you fill your tanks?
Do you fill it until the pump clicks the first time and then remove or do you keep trying to add more fuel after the first click?

The reason I ask is one of the cars I borrowed can't remember what it was but it specificly said only fill to the first click.

Also how many litres are you getting in the tank from empty? Remember its only a 45 litre tank.

Just food for thought

 

[iang]

Hi all, I too experience the fuel gauge not moving straight away. When I collected my car I was fortunate enough to be given a full tank of fuel, and I mean full. It wasn't until I had travelled 180 miles that the gauge started to fall. I must admit I initially thought the gauge was faulty or the car was running on fresh air (I was hoping for the latter!), but after contacting the dealer they explained if you fill the tank past the first click on the pump it will take longer than normal for the gauge to start to fall. It isn't an issue it's just something that we will all have to get used to if you fill the tank to the brim.

 

[Craistir]

Same happened to my Captur first time I filled up on diesel - but seems to be working fine - impressed with the mileage and hope as I reach the 1000 miles it will improve

 

[aseymour]

I've driven 128 miles so far and my fuel gauge is still above the full mark - i'm starting to worry that it won't actually fall? I only filled it up to the first click (like always). The on-board computer stills indicates I have 530 miles of driving left and that figure has been falling from the 600+ miles the previous day.
Be interesting to know peoples thoughts on this and how long it took before it started working.

 

[iang]

Hi aseymour, I am sure it will begin to fall shortly, I think it is something we will all have to get used to. If it doesn't then please let me know and I will have some if your fresh air that you car is running on (lol).

 

[crossbow]

I have a theory about the sticking fuel gauge.
Firstly, I suspect that as the MPG is supposed to be very good on Capturs, that drivers are keeping a very close eye on the fuel gauge to determine how closely their car and their driving technique aligns withRenault's figures.

Secondly, the fuel gauge sender will have a floating device which will rise and fall with the level of the fuel. It is most likely that this float, does just that, it sits on top of the fuel. So when a driver tops off the tank to the very top the float, or its link to the sender is held firmly against the top of the tank. Even being forced under the surface of the fuel, as the fuel in the tank is sohigh. Therefore, the fuel level in the tank will have to dropquite a way before the float starts "floating" again. Thus during the time when the float is held under the surface of the fuel, and when it starts to"float" again,the link will stay at the same angle in the tank, so giving the impression of a "stuck" fuel gauge. Once the float is siting on or near the surface of the fuel it willmove with the corresponding drop in the fuel level in the tank.

Fuel gauges are notorious for being "inaccurate", that is why would will rarely, if at all, see the graduations marked of in Litres or Gallons.

Finally, somehire car firms fill tanks after use bythe customerto the second or third click. This makes sure that thefuel tank is truly filled up.

One final, final thought. The tank on the Captur could be considered rather small, only 10 Gallons. So having 3 gallons remaining in the tank would give a reading of just over a quarter full.



Edited by: crossbow

 

[aseymour]

That's very helpful information crossbow - It looks like it's started to fall a little bit now, could also be because my previous car (Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol) went through fuel very quickly and from filling it up at the same time of the Captur i'd have almost an empty tank by now (interestingly, same size fuel tank as the Captur).
Shame, air is a lot cheaper than Diesel

I did manage to stall my Captur this morning though (first time), not quite sure how, will need to make sure there's not a problem there.

 

[Doozer]

Hi all new to this forum but have had my Captur since 9th August.
I have found the Captur to be a great car but as somehave alreadypointed out,there would appear to be an issue with the fuel gauge.

I have to commute to work after a recent change to my employment, hence the reason from changing from a Mazda RX8 to the Captur, I also noticed immediately that you use approx 3 gallons before the needle starts to drop, not a big issue I thought unit last week when I had a quarter of a tank left, looking at the expected mileage I had approx. 120 miles to play with and my journey was only 38 miles. A breeze I thought, fill up when I get back to my home town.

Travelled approx.20 miles of motorway driving at a steady 65mph when the fuel light came on, I was surprised to say the least, then noted that the fuel range had dropped to 63 miles, again I thought 18 miles to go, no sweat!!

Lets just say I was sweating profusely as I exited the motorway at my hometown with the needle now at zero just willing the car to just keep going that little bit longer. Got to a petrol station, relaxed slightly and started breathing again, started filling up and hey filled to the first click with, you guessed it 45ltrs of diesel.

I believe there is a major issue with the fuel gauge or the calibration of it at least and while searching the web to see if others had issues I noticed that there were 60000 Renault Koleos recalled for faulty fuel sensors earlier this year in China.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/international/renault-recalls-over-60000-cars-in-china-report/article4400132.ece

Obviously a slight difference as the Koleos issue manifests itself after prolonged use. But they have had issue with one vehicle fuel sensor why not another.

Me being a bit of a conspiracy theorist, have they fitted the faulty gauges removed from the Koleos to the Captur's

Anyway, from now on I am not going to get it go below half a tank.

 

[Telmah]

Look like the the fuel gauge are not-linear, more precizes near the empty tank....
the same with my 120 TCe Captur

 

[nowimboard]

Remember its only a 45 litre tank.

45?!

I hope it is more ecconomical than my current car. I have a 75 Litre tank and that lasts me about a week!

Roughly, 75 Litres = 16 Gallons (approx), 500 Miles a week (again approx) = 30mpg.

Er, that's rubbish. I've never worked it out before. Maybe there wont be a problem!

 

[crossbow]

An interesting observation regarding the range info given by the trip computer.
My dealer told me that the "range" element of the trip computer averages out over the life of the car, i.e. the mileagesince it was made. He said resetting thetrip computer would NOT reset the range indicator, although it resets the other details.This seemed odd as one driver could have very different driving style to another. This would mean that someone with a heavy right foot will be given the wrong impression on how many more miles were left in the tank.

So I checked out the on-line info on the operation; there's a great web pages with hot-spots on bits of the car and instrumentation, when moused over will bring up the relevant info. Anyway, back to the plot. The on-line info said the Range can be reset, which seems sensible to me. My Megane's range indicator could be reset.Anyway I tried that this morning, but the range did NOT reset, and remained at a near tank-full at 285 miles, which is odd as I know that I am doing 37MPG at the moment in my Tce120 Auto (though I have not done many miles yet).

So it appears the car sales person knows their stuff.

I would be interested in anyone else who has made similar or different observations.

I am letting people know as I know that fuel economy is one reason why people have bought the Captur.

Edited by: crossbow

 

[Vbl]

Hi all, I too experience the fuel gauge not moving straight away. When I collected my car I was fortunate enough to be given a full tank of fuel, and I mean full. It wasn't until I had travelled 180 miles that the gauge started to fall. I must admit I initially thought the gauge was faulty or the car was running on fresh air (I was hoping for the latter!), but after contacting the dealer they explained if you fill the tank past the first click on the pump it will take longer than normal for the gauge to start to fall. It isn't an issue it's just something that we will all have to get used to if you fill the tank to the brim.

Identical situation - I filled the tank for the first time last Wednesday and by the time I did 147 miles gauge had not moved. I hotfooted to my local Renault (not where I got the car from which is 130 miles away) and the guy there said "You filled it just over the gauge marking level and it is economical car so it will not show so quickly"
It is now showing fine as I have since done another 83 miles

 

[Dal]

An interesting observation regarding the range info given by the trip computer.
My dealer told me that the "range" element of the trip computer averages out over the life of the car, i.e. the mileagesince it was made. He said resetting thetrip computer would NOT reset the range indicator, although it resets the other details.This seemed odd as one driver could have very different driving style to another. This would mean that someone with a heavy right foot will be given the wrong impression on how many more miles were left in the tank.

So I checked out the on-line info on the operation; there's a great web pages with hot-spots on bits of the car and instrumentation, when moused over will bring up the relevant info. Anyway, back to the plot. The on-line info said the Range can be reset, which seems sensible to me. My Megane's range indicator could be reset.Anyway I tried that this morning, but the range did NOT reset, and remained at a near tank-full at 285 miles, which is odd as I know that I am doing 37MPG at the moment in my Tce120 Auto (though I have not done many miles yet).

So it appears the car sales person knows their stuff.

I would be interested in anyone else who has made similar or different observations.

I am letting people know as I know that fuel economy is one reason why people have bought the Captur.

My current car (Toyota Avensis Estate) also has a Range until empty feature and like the Renault you can NOT manually reset this but it resets automatically when you refill the tank. Having said that if you are at say 1/4 tank and put £10 in it will not reset. But I have found the stated range got longer the more the car loosened up. From new I could only just get 500 miles to a tank but I now get nearly 600 miles (cars done 62k miles now).

I assume the Renault will be much the same.

 

[Capturion]

I have the same problem since yesterday. Gauge stopped rising and kept falling although I put 20lt yesterday in the tank. Now it has stopped right below the lowest indication line and the range shows --- at the display although the tank has about 12lt inside.

They ordered for me a new floater at Renault dealer that will be covered by warranty. Will check though if it resets as you mentioned if I fill it up.

 

[Thewhiteball]

Ive done 10,000 miles now in my dci and at first it didnt do much more than 62mpg at best. Since about 7.000 miles on and after acouple of good trips out to Keswick and latley Lincoln, my mileage is between 65 and 73mpg depending on the run. it doesnt seem to make much difference whether I use eco or not.

 

[Capturman_Peter]

I've had this sort of fuel gauge problem on a Suzuki oil burner - the gauge would stay at full for a worrying amount of time and then suddenly fall to three quarters. After that it would behave normally. I had assumed that I had over filled the tank and jammed the float - if I just filled it to three quarters in the first place it behaved itself.......

 

[trafford48]

Yes I have problem with fuel giuage. When you fill up it shows fuel but it doesn't start to move until you have used at least 4 galls according to trip computer . Have now used 5.6 galls but it shows just a bit more than two thirds full.
will need re-calibrating at service.