Thread: SEMA 2009 - Fuel Level Sensor

So you didn't really have him elaborate on self calibrating. Does this mean that perhaps 25% will ACTUALLY mean 25%? For example, in my car, I get 250 miles from full to half, then 100 miles from half to empty. I think that is the big issue with many stock fuel sending units, and "calibrating" seems like it would be something that could fix that?

Sorry about that, what he means by self calibrating is that it will adjust to whatever kind of fuel you put in. It can work with diesel, gasoline, bio-diesel, fuel with additives etc..

What is the advantage over a stock fuel level sensor?

Different fuels....... its really nothing groundbreaking just something no one has come up with yet - variable capacitance is at least 10 years old commonly used with temperature sensing or other similar environmental sensors. I was pretty sure it was already used in a few modern cars but I could be off about that.

EDIT:
Its not as simple as connecting directly to your fusion brain unless it has built in conversion circuitry. Most likely you will need to setup a resistor bridge to measure capacitance.

Originally Posted by malcom2073

What is the advantage over a stock fuel level sensor?

The theory here is you could hook it up to your car computer to monitor fuel levels on your display or monitor them remotely if you can't get them over the CAN/MOST bus for some reason.

If you have an odd shaped tank like Malcolm i would think you could probably calibrate the sensor to match the size and shape and give you an accurate gallons rating.

I agree this would need some mild modifications to be readable on a PC but I wouldn't think it would be more than a day of work for an experienced EE (electrical engineer) or software guru.