Unfortunately, the petrol light on my S-Max 2.5 comes on when the tank is half full or so and then reads nothing at all.

The local mechanic reckons the fuel sender unit needs replacing but these are around £350 from Ford brand new

I've found one on eBay for £120 but the same place is also selling the same unit for a Focus 2.5 for only £48.

Question: Does anybody know if these are actually interchangeable - the engine is the same! (They do have different part numbers, but there you go).

Thanks.

take a looksie through this,

eucatparts.com/?action=cat_ford_unit&s_id_grp=1225408&s_id_model=118

then find the correct focus part and see for yourself if its the same??

hth.

Hi gregers

Appreciate the link and I've taken a look but I'm afraid I don't really know what to look for or how that helps me!

just giving you some info on the smax part.

just thought if it was the same as the focus part then atleast it narrowed it down for you.

I dont believe they are the same as I think they use different connections. You will need to remove the fuel tank in order to replace the FSU.

I would advise dont spend any money yet. Find the most bumpy road around and just keep going over it at a fair but safe speed! this should bounce the FSU around and if it keeps getting stuck it should loosen it up!

Yup - in fact it has just 'fixed itself' this morning after the light came on at the weekend - more that half a tank left. But it will go again.... I guess that might be how the problem started in the first place - perhaps over keen over a speed ramp.

Might leave it for now. The local mechanic said labour would be around £100 for taking out the tank. Don't fancy spending 220 odd quid just on this...

nah, most the time it just sticks, and can be shook loose!

Is There some way you can look at the 2 parts to see if they are the same but have different numbers. Maybe the Ford parts library or even the parts dept. Choose a quiet time and think of a pretext for the need to compare them. you can be sure this problem will re Occur,

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Ford OC mobile app

Highly unlikely they will be the same.

Just because the engine is the same doesn't mean the fuel tank will be the same.

The s-max one will be calibrated for the S-max shaped fuel tank - the Focus one will be calibrated for it's Focus-shaped tank with a different capacity.

Thanks all - as OP thought I'd just say that jeebowhite was correct - the problems seems to have solved itself. Light hasn't come on incorrectly for a while...

Glad to be of service Benny!

They are rare to fail to be honest, which is why I just suggest waiting it out!

Glad its all resolved though!

Hey. Having a similar problem with my recently purchased 59 plate S-max. Does it effect the drive, I.e. will it suddenly 'run out' of fuel even if there's half a tank in there?