e39 Fuel tank connections

Mates e39 520i manual fuel guage was not working (6 months plus). He found some links to do onboard tests which pointed him to the tank on the drivers side (2 tanks in an e39 apparently).

 Disconnected the battery.

I removed the cover plate ,disconnected the wiring loom, then tapped open the sealing ring. Lifted out the float mechanism. Found float connected to lever arm. Checked for contunity between the loom pins and the slider contacts (which are changed by the level of the float). Found the common terminal to be open circuit. The wire was fine at the slider but loose at the rear of the wiring loom pin.

I played safe and stripped the insulation of the cable and then wrapping it around the pin terminal. Then slide the protective sleeve over the terminal. 

Reconnected the battery and now the fuel guage is working properly.

Could I have soldered the wire to the rear of the terminal? O used heat shrink?


Didn't want to as had no info/reason to do so (inside a fuel tank).

I was not able to remove the old crimp terminal, didn't want to use force as I had not got complete access to tools ( at his house, not mine).

I suspect that my cable solution will come undone and I want to have the solution before that.





Edited by stephen520i