SOLVED-Fuel indicator is Empty, range --- mls

[Pisendar]

Hey everybody.

05 4.8is with 72000 miles. My fuel indicator shows my i have zero gas when i left a gas station and filled up with $50 - approx 16gal. I was little surprised and tried to restart the car and left it for night and still nothing. I took the car to BMW dealer in El Cajon on Friday morning and since i have Mercury warranty i thought pretty much i am covered. Today is Saturday and my advisor called me and told me, basically that wiring is chewed by either rat or a mouse and has to be rewired and it wont be covered by warranty and priced is $450. And also my water pump is failing too because they could hear it working very loud (i was driving car and would be absolutely normal, it would start perfectly) and this problem will be covered by warranty and they have to wait until Monday to get approval from Mercury. My price to get the car back if i want the water pump be fixed will be 138 diagnose and my deductible 50 for water pump.


I told them do not worry about wiring because it sounded like too much $

Ok now i want to ask few questions.
1 - All this wiring for fuel indicator is it internal or external that mice or rat would reached and do something with it? "Ad visor mentioned wiring comes from sending unit"
2 - how can be determine water pump is failing ?
3 - Do you think it worth it to get wiring fixed from them >?


Any help or suggestion would be highly appreciated. Thank you everybody

KazbeK

[m5james]

1) Check the wiring underneath the rear seat. Did they tell you where the damage occured or can you ask the mechanic? I think it'd be going a bit far to replace an ENTIRE harness for something that may only be 1" of damage that can be repaired with some wire and soldering/butt connectors.
2) Waterpumps usually fail and cause the car to overheat or make a grinding type noise. Your car starting has nothing to do with how well your waterpump functions. If you're mechanically inclined, replacing the waterpump isn't terribly hard, but then again you've got a warranty, so it'd be worth the $50 deductible. The other $138 sounds like you can't get out of, so you may as well have the waterpump done and we'll help you figure out the gas gauge issue.
3) See #1

[Pisendar]

Originally Posted by m5james

1) Check the wiring underneath the rear seat. Did they tell you where the damage occured or can you ask the mechanic? I think it'd be going a bit far to replace an ENTIRE harness for something that may only be 1" of damage that can be repaired with some wire and soldering/but connectors.
2) Waterpumps usually fail and cause the car to overheat or make a grinding type noise. Your car starting has nothing to do with how well your waterpump functions. If you're mechanically inclined, replacing the waterpump isn't terribly hard, but then again you've got a warranty, so it'd be worth the $50 deductible. The other $138 sounds like you can't get out of, so you may as well have the waterpump done and we'll help you figure out the gas gauge issue.
3) See #1

u know what thank you gor your priceless advice!!! I mean it. Because i just thought of something! It happened on wednesday but on tuesday i was driving around with some of my cousins and there was 3 people in the back an adults. And matter of fact when i installed my dice kit i wired the cable from the trunk to the front myself putting the cable under rear seat. So it could be that i guess. i really hope nothing got inside the car and especially rats. And about WP i didnt really notice anything bad with car and grinding noise as well but you said what i was thinking myself for 50 i guess its worth it instead of doing myself when pro can do it

[Pisendar]

UPDATE 11-15-10
m5james my HERO was right and thank you sir
still dont understand how any rat would got inside there(see picture)

I got the car back today, just paid for diagnose. As WP my advisor told me it was ok and didnt really need anything to do with. But they wrote a big list of things i need to check which i am gonna do tomorrow at small shop where i know mechanic.

1- need 2 hour to fix sending unit wires (damage by a rodent) $272.70
warranty wont cover
2- P&A On Vacuum pump (leaking oil) $808.21 warranty wont cover
3- P&A on lower radiator hose (oil dripping on lower hose and deforming rubber) $325.93 warranty wont cover
4- P&A on outer C.V Boot (L/F outer C.V boot is torned.) $465.94 with $50 deductible through warranty
5- P&A on 2 quarts of oil (oil level to low)

SO far problems solved
1- wires were chewed and broken apart ( can see on the picture) took me 10 minutes to do everything, and worked perfectly
5- i did check oil level and it was ridiculously low, i bought Mobil 5w30 synthetic from autozone (btw, maybe it matters, before when i would accelerate car wouldn't shake from high rpm, now when i do that car really shakes and makes me think car seriously didn't have any oil)

Tomorrow i am going to check the car for the rest of the problems so far, and impatiently cant wait to see what is really the problem.

i would highly appreciate yours guys opinion and any help

[m5james]

Congrats on the easy fix! I've had rare instances in the past where I went to shops for diagnosis, and they're more than willing to spend my hard earned dime to try and figure things out. My biggest (and more recent, like 4yrs ago) was when I started having driving issues with the 7...it'd stumble on it's face the harder I gave it gas, eventually wouldn't idle, etc. I had it towed to a shop who wanted to do around $3000 worth of work, anything from removing the heads to check for carbon deposits, replacing fuel rail and lines from head to toe, replacing injectors, valve cover gaskets, etc. After I laughed, I got my keys back and proceeded back to my car to find the hood release handle had been broken. Apparently their master techs couldn't get the hood released (I NEVER had an issue with it), but once I got it opened myself, come to findout master man himself closed the hood on a shop rag that got jambed in the latch, so they gave up until I got there. Needless to say I didn't pay a dime for their BS diagnoses and I proceeded to start working on the car myself in their parking lot after hours. I started running through my head about why this would happen, I had plenty of fuel pressure (checked with a guage) and had already replaced the fuel pump. Then I remembered the notorious clogging cats, and since one had already been replacing from the BMW recall, it led me to believe the second had failed as well. Jacked up the car (still in their parking lot), removed the pre-cat 02 sensor, car fired right up! A loud drive (1" hole in the exhaust from the 02 not being in there) and $200 later I had a replacement Magnaflow cat. The kicker is that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING they intended on doing would have solved my problem in the slightest. Anyways, minirant about ignorant stealerships over, moving on...

1) Simple and easy fix, good job
2) Vacuum pump? I'm not even sure what they're referring to there. Maybe they meant the airpump?
3) Lower radiator hose is a simple repair, but why is there oil on it? Sounds like something else is going on. I ALWAYS preach that when it comes to the cooling system on this motor to replace EVERYTHING when things start getting around the 80-100k mark and/or when parts starts failing...if one plastic piece is breaking due to age, that almost guarantee the other plastic parts aren't far from suffering the same failure.
4) The outer CV Boot can be replaced for under $20, but it's replacing it that is a little harder to get to. There are writeups on here, so how mechanically inclined are you. The problem with driving with a torn CV Boot is that eventually grit will start getting into the joint and wear out the bearings, so you should do this ASAP while it can still be saved, otherwise you'll have to replace the whole arm, costing around $200. For the work involved, I'd pony up the $50 ASAP before it gets worse...see if they'll do them both because just like the plastic radiator parts, their all the same age so the other ones are soon to follow.
5) Sounds like you need to fix your leak, and then start checking the oil every other time you fillup with gas, just for safe measure. I personally use Mobil1 0w40, but sometimes it's a little harder to come by.

Keep us posted, and consider using the $272 you would have paid into replacing the fuel sending wire and apply that amount towards other repairs. I usually take dealership diagnosis lists with a grain of salt, but leaking oil and other obvious things that are easily repaired can be followed easily since it's not trivial work.

[Pisendar]

Originally Posted by m5james

Congrats on the easy fix! I've had rare instances in the past where I went to shops for diagnosis, and they're more than willing to spend my hard earned dime to try and figure things out. My biggest (and more recent, like 4yrs ago) was when I started having driving issues with the 7...it'd stumble on it's face the harder I gave it gas, eventually wouldn't idle, etc. I had it towed to a shop who wanted to do around $3000 worth of work, anything from removing the heads to check for carbon deposits, replacing fuel rail and lines from head to toe, replacing injectors, valve cover gaskets, etc. After I laughed, I got my keys back and proceeded back to my car to find the hood release handle had been broken. Apparently their master techs couldn't get the hood released (I NEVER had an issue with it), but once I got it opened myself, come to findout master man himself closed the hood on a shop that got jambed in the latch, so they gave up until I got there. Needless to say I didn't pay a dime for their BS diagnoses and I proceeded to start working on the car myself in their parking lot after hours. I started running through my head about why this would happen, I had plenty of fuel pressure (checked with a guage) and had already replaced the fuel pump. Then I remembered the notorious clogging cats, and since one had already been replacing from the BMW recall, it led me to believe the second had failed as well. Jacked up the car (still in their parking lot), removed the pre-cat 02 sensor, car fired right up! A loud drive (1" hole in the exhaust from the 02 not being in there) and $200 later I had a replacement Magnaflow cat. The kicker is that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING they intended on doing would have solved my problem in the slightest. Anyways, minirant about ignorant stealerships over, moving on...

1) Simple and easy fix, good job
2) Vacuum pump? I'm not even sure what they're referring to there. Maybe they meant the airpump?
3) Lower radiator hose is a simple repair, but why is there oil on it? Sounds like something else is going on. I ALWAYS preach that when it comes to the cooling system on this motor to replace EVERYTHING when things start getting around the 80-100k mark and/or when parts starts failing...if one plastic piece is breaking due to age, that almost guarantee the other plastic parts aren't far from suffering the same failure.
4) The outer CV Boot can be replaced for under $20, but it's replacing it that is a little harder to get to. There are writeups on here, so how mechanically inclined are you. The problem with driving with a torn CV Boot is that eventually grit will start getting into the joint and wear out the bearings, so you should do this ASAP while it can still be saved, otherwise you'll have to replace the whole arm, costing around $200. For the work involved, I'd pony up the $50 ASAP before it gets worse...see if they'll do them both because just like the plastic radiator parts, their all the same age so the other ones are soon to follow.
5) Sounds like you need to fix your leak, and then start checking the oil every other time you fillup with gas, just for safe measure. I personally use Mobil1 0w40, but sometimes it's a little harder to come by.

Keep us posted, and consider using the $272 you would have paid into replacing the fuel sending wire and apply that amount towards other repairs. I usually take dealership diagnosis lists with a grain of salt, but leaking oil and other obvious things that are easily repaired can be followed easily since it's not trivial work.

Yep it does say vacuum pump. Mechanic looked at cv boot and yes, it was all wet and he showed me all this greece and it was torn. For other two problems tomorrow he will lift the car and check for the rest problems.
P.S great experience u wrote, cant believe u did all that work on their parking lot, seriously made me laugh!

[Pisendar]

CV Boot problem solved, pictures shown can describe a lot even for dummy like me, Warranty covered everything matter of fact so it was a good thing to have. Other problems,, there was no other problems!!!! Mechanic cheked everything that was described in dealer report and he did not find anything ! He showed me, and again dummy like me in mechanical problems did not find any leaks !
So James Thank very much for your help and effort

OFFICIALLY EVERYTHING SOLVED

Happy END

[m5james]

Glad I could help. The thing I hated the most about doing the CV boots was the damn mess that it made! Not only during reassembly, but then having to remove that stubborn grease from the suspension parts it got flung all over, the insides of the rims, on the doors, etc...messy stuff!

[mysweetx5]

Originally Posted by Pisendar

UPDATE 11-15-10
m5james my HERO was right and thank you sir
still dont understand how any rat would got inside there(see picture)

I got the car back today, just paid for diagnose. As WP my advisor told me it was ok and didnt really need anything to do with. But they wrote a big list of things i need to check which i am gonna do tomorrow at small shop where i know mechanic.

1- need 2 hour to fix sending unit wires (damage by a rodent) $272.70
warranty wont cover
2- P&A On Vacuum pump (leaking oil) $808.21 warranty wont cover
3- P&A on lower radiator hose (oil dripping on lower hose and deforming rubber) $325.93 warranty wont cover
4- P&A on outer C.V Boot (L/F outer C.V boot is torned.) $465.94 with $50 deductible through warranty
5- P&A on 2 quarts of oil (oil level to low)

SO far problems solved
1- wires were chewed and broken apart ( can see on the picture) took me 10 minutes to do everything, and worked perfectly
5- i did check oil level and it was ridiculously low, i bought Mobil 5w30 synthetic from autozone (btw, maybe it matters, before when i would accelerate car wouldn't shake from high rpm, now when i do that car really shakes and makes me think car seriously didn't have any oil)

Tomorrow i am going to check the car for the rest of the problems so far, and impatiently cant wait to see what is really the problem.

i would highly appreciate yours guys opinion and any help

Just wanna throw out a *good shot* for my men: (M5james) he's really a good member, very helpful in the community; and you will see him in many other forums. Otherwise I'm glad that you were able to fix the (Gas gauge electrical issue on your vehicle. By the way, I want to say that: Many mechanic shops including BMW's technicians don't really know (S''''''t).

They just possessed some degree in school and have a valid mechanic license to operate that set. But when you go to some mechanic shop, they just try to guess what could be wrong on your vehicle; the same like we do everyday to fix our own problems. It just like hospitals, the doctor put something very simple on you to see what's going on inside, and next thing you know, your bill comes up to: $700/$800 dollars.

[m5james]

Glad I could help wherever possible. Just fixed a customer 330xi that had at least 15 seperate misfire codes, fuel mixture, etc w/ a simple $13 hose. Once again, I like huge issues that are remedied w/ simple fixes that most other shops look past.