[RoverTD]

New to the forum & I have searched and found little on this subject. I have just picked up a 2003 Rover 45 L Diesel. Fuel gauge was showing empty when I picked it up but no warning light. I put in 1/2 tank of fuel and gauge slowly over a few mins. of driving went up to just over 1/2 full. I have driven 180 miles and it has hardly moved and stays showing just under 1/2 full when engine switched off. Should it return to empty with ignition off & if so, has anyone a likely solution. Thanks Derek

[RoverRevival]

Likely to be the sender on the fuel pump not responding correctly.

[Montegoman]

It doesn't return to empty when the ignition is off. It is "live" all the time. When you refuel it can take a few minutes to rise to the correct position.

[crepello]

The dash gauge itself is somewhat damped in order to avoid the needle swinging wildly with the car's motion. Maybe worth pulling the appropriate loom plug to isolate that from any signal and confirming it's not too sluggish returning to zero?

[RoverTD]

Thanks, I will see how it behaves with a further drop in fuel or might pull the plug & see what happens.

[Chris216416]

Even if you remove the instrument cluster from car the fuel gauge is frozen in its last position.

[RoverTD]

The gauge is slowly moving back to empty, so it is working, but will keep an eye on it, don't want to run out of fuel. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Fuel consumption better than I imagined