Hello all,

My gas gauge is reading around a 1/3 of a tank lower than it should even when full. I’m talking at 12.5 gallons my tank barely reads over half full. I’ve replaced the fuel sending unit and am about ready to pull my hair out after trying to fix this for months. Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on? All the other threads I’ve seen have talked about inconsistencies but I’ve yet to find anyone with one this big.

 

Is it always off? Meaning at 5ish gallons it reads nearly empty? Or are the top few bars just not lighting up when it is full?

 

It always reads that low. I didn’t realize the tank was actually able to fill fully until I ran it completely out of gas. I was able to get 70 miles out of it with 0 bars on the gas gauge left.

 

You have replaced the float inside the tank?
This one 17630-S2A-A32

 

 

Yep! That’s why I came on here. I replaced the float yesterday and changed nothing. It’s driving me nuts.

 

Chapter 11 of the service manual has all sorts of tests for the fuel gauge and system. 00-05 and 06-09 are different but all in Chapter 11. Which tests have you run? (Have you even looked at the manual?)

There's a link to the full version here (somewhere). It does not have a Japanese bikini model on the cover.

-- Chuck

 

I’ve looked at the manual and know that one well. I hadn’t bothered with that testing yet because I was fairly confident that replacing the entire fuel sender unit and pump would fix the issue. I guess I’ll try those tests out and come back here if I still end up not figuring anything out.

 

I agree that a new sending unit should have fixed the issue but...

I reset the trip odometer when I fuel the car. Force of habit from having a bad fuel gauge in a car maybe 30 years ago. Problem was the opposite of yours: it showed more fuel than was in the tank.

-- Chuck

 

I do too. After running out of gas, in my BMW 2002 a couple of times. Even though the gauge read 1/4 tank.