I am building (in my head for now) a custom gauge panel for my car. To make a long story short I want to know if something like this is feasible or not. All of the fuel gauges I have found will not be compatible with the stock sender. The come in either 0Ωs Empty / 90Ωs Full, 73Ωs Empty / 10Ωs Full or 240Ωs Empty / 33Ωs Full. The stock Honda sender is 110Ωs Empty / 5Ωs Full.

Is there anything that can be made that can "translate" the stock signal and provide an output into one of the three available aftermarket gauges?

I know generic sending units exhist, but I do not want to fool with them. Thank you for your time.

:EDIT: What about madifying the gauge its self instead of having the go-between descibed above?

I'm thinking I should just fill up my tank every 200 miles or so instead of fooling with this : /

 

I'm an EE and I'll try to help. However, I've never played with the electronics of fuel gauges.

First off, are you sure using the Omega symbol is correct? In electronics, the Omega means "ohms", or resistance. Variable resistance is rarely used in this type of application. Instead, typically they use voltage (or V). I know that Autometer gauges all use voltage levels for readings; and O2 sensors, and other sending units produce voltages.

Ok... so it is possible to build a translation circuit. Personally, I don't think it's worth it, unless you're doing this purely for a hobby sake.

You will not be able to mod the gauge itself. (Well theoretically you could, but that's REALLY not worth it.)

 

:werd:

if the sender uses resistance, add 130 ohms in series and you would atleast know when the tank is empty.

 

I believe user, TTT, is also into EE.

 

You're talking Resistance or impedance?

I don't know how the sender work, by measuring current or voltage drop? If it's current or voltage, then u can build a simple bridge circuit or parallel one so that that current drop accross the circuit pack will be relatively the same, (or the v drop) will be around that amount. If it's measuring the Vout then I guess you can build a simple rc circuit to regulate the output voltage.

But it's too much hassle if your calculation comes out to be different. Shoot, I forget all these electrical stuff since I've been working with fiber optics for almost a year. Time to review

edit, but, what kind of Vin will it be? + or - 5, 12? 14.4? etc?

 

Gah, I had my heart set on Autometer's CF series and didn't give the other lines a chance. After I looked a little while longer it seems that their Cobalt and C2 series has a fuel gauge available that is adjustable in such a way that it will work on any type of sender. They are also full-sweep gauges instead of short sweep.

 

The fuel level sending unit will output a voltage proportional to the fuel level. It might be 0V-12V or a range between these two voltages. Since it will be difficult to get the manufacturer's datasheet on the unit, you might want to check the output voltages at the fuel gauge in the dash.

 

It's not difficult to get the specs. It's in the FSM i've been staring at over the last few days.

http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/civicMa...df/23-a125.pdf

VIN is stated to be between 5 & 8V.

http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/civicMa...df/23-a124.pdf