Another gauge corrector--cheaper than MeterMatch, 33.00

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Mike69cuda said:
Your numbers are quite a bit different than mine, which are shown in the picture of my calibration box. This is like due to your 2 gallon offset.
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I think the difference in numbers is due to the junk they are selling as a replacement part. The empty point I am using is certainly a part of it as that would move all the other points up, but the full mark is off as well which can only be a result of the sender. It is possible that if I dropped the tank and took a look at where the float sat when the tank was full, that bending the arm could adjust some or all of that difference out, but I'm not going to go through the effort. My gut says it isn't an issue with the float travel but instead with the shoddy part I got from the manufacturer.

I will say, if I end of ever replacing this one with something similar I will probably take some measurements before I put it in to see if there is something that could be done to make it better.

In the end, I plan to drop the whole setup though. A couple of years ago a friend helped me modify a tank to use a gen5 Camaro pump and basket for an EFI swap. When I get to that point, I will probably just use the GM sending unit and this Fuel Bridge to keep my stock gauge.

Mike69cuda said:
The glitch at 12 is interesting, I assume the red & blue lines represent two different fills? If these are two different fills and it repeats, it could be a fault in the sender.
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Not two different fills, just two different readings. I got concerned later in the process that the fuel could be sloshing and cause the reading to be off, so I started taking a reading right after I did a fill and then just before I did the next fill. This gave it time to calm down while I refilled the 1 gallon gas can. I did get slightly different readings at points, but the one at 12 gallons had way more skew than any other point did and was way off for what it should have been. Not sure what is going on there. I should add that this was with a cheap HF multimeter so there is always the possibility that my tools are the problem as well.

Now that I think about it, it does seem like the gauge would drop really fast at one point and then come back up. If so, it would kind of match the readings and indicate that the sending unit has some kind of flaw at that point.
 
I agree on the senders being crap. That seems to be a common theme in most Chinesium parts we buy now. My gauge works a lot better that it did without the meter match, so at least it is functional.
 
Here is a chart I borrowed from another thread that compares the aftermarket sender to an OEM. This is the chart I used to build my calibration box.

29DFA362-4A57-46DA-AADF-10B741E59786.jpeg
 
So I gotta ask - is anybody old-school on this board? These gauges are 'adjustable' so this can be done manually. But it's a real PIA because the adjustment is very finicky. I've got mine close, where the pointer is just at the bottom of the Empty line and I have about 4 gallons in the tank. At least it's predictable!
 
Has anybody installed one of these? Any feedback?
The ebay seller says it's manufactured by Dolphin and it's printed on the unit, but I don't see it on Dolphin's website. Makes me wonder whether the seller got ahold of a batch of failed product and is liquidating them somehow.
 
I installed a Meter Match this afternoon. Hooked up all the wires. Began process by setting for full tank. Switched the selector to #1, turned the key and started bumping the needle to full mark. One it hit the full mark I hit the set button and then returned the selector wheel to zero.

Heres the problem, when I turned the key and started the car the needle rose to 3/4 mark then slowly returned to E.

Started getting hot in the shop so I quit for the day. Any ideas out there? Wish Tanks Inc would include a trouble shooting guide.
 
I don’t really have any ideas other than when I did mine I had to do it a couple of times because the gauge reacted so slowly it had bad settings the first time. I started giving it a full minute or more to make sure my gauge was reading where I wanted it.

I know mine has a function to go to full and then to the level reading as a test. Kind of sounds like yours, but reversed?

Sorry I can’t be much help.
 
It sounds like no one has bought this, or posted the results.
Does it work or not. I bought the Meter Match and now believe it was a scam. Is this unit also a scam or not?
 
I have one of those cheaper ones sitting in the box but I haven't installed it yet. I've just learned to read my demented gauge in which the last 1/4 tank is actually about 13 gallons. I'll put it in at some point.

What's so scammy about the meter match?
 
I've only had one old car with a working fuel gauge, but a new sender so it only went to 5/8 full on the gauge. I drive my cars like motorcycles, go so many miles and fill up. I've only run out of gas when I forgot how much I left in when I parked it for the winter, no issues during cruising season.
 
Mike69cuda said:
I assume this one works like the Meter Match I used on my car. The sender resistance doesn’t matter within reason. When you fill the tank to empty, 1/4, 3/4, and full, you push a button on the meter match to adjust till the gauge reads right at each level. This creates a map of the sender resistance to the fuel gauge position. It looks like this one uses an adjustable resistor for the same function.

Instead of filling the gas tank to different levels, I made a test box that simulated the aftermarket sender resistance at different levels (lazy, don’t like to siphon gas).

This device has to have constant voltage (solid state IVR) supply to work. it won’t work with the stock “flasher” type IVR.

When I bought my Meter Match, they sold two types, one with the IVR supply built in, and one that used the IVR in the car to power the gauge. This one looks like it uses the car IVR.

Interestingly, one of these could be used to do the same thing on a temp or oil gauge.

The simulator box is available for loan if anyone wants it.

View attachment 1715932135
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The problem with all of these when used with the OEM fuel gauge is that the gauge reacts so slowly due to it's design that you have to be really patient and wait for the needle to settle before moving on to the next fuel level. And mine was backwards so full didn't read anything and empty wanted to peg the needle on the wrong end. Which meant each fuel level step typically took a fair amount of pushes to get it going the right direction and sometimes required "catching" the needle before it pegged.

The next trick is to be able to feed the module the correct resistance. But if you have a setup like above, you can pretty much flip the switch, move the gauge around using the plus and minus and let it sit for a minute or two and it should be close. My method of moving a sending unit to match a line I had drawn on it was tedious and potentially less than accurate.

The Fuel Bridge module I bought seems to work pretty good best I can tell once I got it set (took 2 times). It has a test when you start the car where the gauge is supposed to go to full and then back down to the fuel reading, but my gauge is so slow that the test phase is over long before it get's anywhere close to the full mark. And there are times where it seems off, so I don't think it is perfect. But it is better than it was, that's for sure.
 
I put a meter match in my other hobby car (85 Celica Supra) and sometimes it works perfectly, other times it shows way lower than the actual fuel level.

I have a pretty good idea how much gas is in the car at any given time because I use the motorcycle approach like @LocuMob, and the car gets a pretty consistent 19 - 20 mpg. So I know at 200 km I'm just above half a tank and once I hit around 400 km I had better find a gas station and avoid steep hills.

Last time I filled up the gauge went to about 5/8 or 3/4. Drove home and parked it for a week. Next time I got in the car the gauge was reading full. Was good for about a half hour then dropped to 5/8. Once I got that tank down to about a quarter tank the needle was dropped way below E. In between that time there were wild fluctuations between where it should be and way below where it should be.

I was going to reconfigure the thing but after reading these comments I'm thinking they're not the greatest at doing what they're supposed to do, so I'll probably just leave it alone.
 
vames said:
I have one of those cheaper ones sitting in the box but I haven't installed it yet. I've just learned to read my demented gauge in which the last 1/4 tank is actually about 13 gallons. I'll put it in at some point.

What's so scammy about the meter match?
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It did not work or even come close to working. No recourse cept to eat it
 
Thanks 67Dart273 for the link to this thread. Sgrip65
 
What is the consensus on the dolphin unit? Does it actually work? Really sick of the replacements not working correctly!!!
 
SNKEBIT said:
What is the consensus on the dolphin unit? Does it actually work? Really sick of the replacements not working correctly!!!
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All I did was power it up and play with it on a test bench. It seems OK, but I have not run it any length of time.
 
how about running a fuel flow meter and just keeping an eye on it? 15 gallons flows 15 gallons. When the meter has flowed 13 gallons time for a fill up and a reset. No sure how much these are but this one is $35. It may measure way too much like 1-60 liters per minute...

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pishta said:
how about running a fuel flow meter and just keeping an eye on it? 15 gallons flows 15 gallons. When the meter has flowed 13 gallons time for a fill up and a reset. No sure how much these are but this one is $35. It may measure way too much like 1-60 liters per minute...

View attachment 1716308625
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Interesting idea.

Biggest flaw I can see is that you are assuming how much gas you have in the tank and having to remember how much you put in last time. It could bite you in the end if things get out of whack and you think you have 13 gallons of range but you only have 10.

At the same time, seems like it would be the bomb for calculating actual MPG.
 
I've been running the Autometer one for a couple of years now. Seems to be better, but far from as good as I hoped. Sometimes it just seems wonky. Drove into town last weekend and was showing a 1/4 tank. Didn't seem to move all the way in (30 miles) and was fine when I started back. But shortly after getting back on the road it was down to just above E and hovered there all the way home. In theory I have a 2 gallon buffer after E so I didn't think I was going to run out of gas, but sure would be nice if it would be a little more linear.

I do think it is better and some of the flaws are certainly due to the junk sender and the issue with a 12 gallon level. Can't blame the gauge module, it can only report based on what it is being sent.
 
you could get real trick and run the fuel cell mounted on a scale, just keep and eye on the weight remotely...aircraft style. "I got 35 lbs, Im good!"
 
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