Just wondering if everyone else is having the same problem as me.... My gas gauge jumps around constantly. I'll park and have like 7 bars....come back and leave and I have 4 bars (and my mileage is in the 7 bar range). I usually just go by the odometer, but yesterday I had the weirdest thing happen....

I parked with 4 bars (218 miles on this tank and I usually get around 250-270 per tank)....went in to my office and did a little work. Came back and started her up. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear... 0 bars and the gas warning light is on. WASSUP WITH THAT? Luckily I was near a gas station and I filled her up...but it was barely 10 gallons. I just don't get it. Most of the time it seems just fine, but it acts stranger when it is really hot out...

Is this a normal problem for people?

Thanks for any replies...

 

I think its pretty normal. Mine goes all over the place.

I think that it has a lot to do with the incline/decline you park your car on.

 

I agree with what dhess said. Were you parked on an incline when this happened? I notice that when my car leans left the guage reads 2-3 bars higher than when it leans right ... and this is in Florida! I can only imagine what can happen wherre people live and park in hilly terrain.

Also note that there is a lag built into the guage. If there was no lag, the guage would bounce all over the place when gas sloshed around in the tank. So, if you change the angle of the car, the guage will not start changing until you've maintained that angle for a while - like when you park.

 

mine does that too....the street that i park on slants to the right...ie..the left side of the car is higher than the right. It usually shows about half the amount of fuel that i actually have, and it is very annoying. I have found that if i stop the car on a perfectly level surface and restart the engine, the fuel guage returns to normal. Glad to know that it is not just my car.

Matt

 

I also swear that it changes based on how I drive. I usually notice it when it's down to 2-3 bars. If I drive hard, the last few bars disappear in about 5-10 minutes. Then if I drive "nice" I can usually get at least on bar back!

Weird.

 

Good to hear that everyone has the same problems. I'm not usually on an incline at all. It's like I will park in a normal parking lot and go out with half a tank, then I come back and I only have a few bars. But then later on, I have half a tank again....but the bars go down extremely fast.

Guess I should just stick with the Odometer....but when that gas light comes on, I start to get a bit nervous!

 

Do any of you know how much gas is left when the guage reads 0 bars? The most gas I've ever put in the tank was just under 11 gallons. I haven't ever even looked to see how many gallons the tank is supposed to hold, but I would expect it to be closer to 13 gallons. I rarely ever get 200 miles out of a tank, unless I'm taking a long trip on the highway.

 

The capacity of the fuel tank in our car is 50 liters = 13.2 U.S. gallons = 11.0 Imperial gallons.

gernby - I have the same experience as you - when I fill up with my guage on 0 bars it takes about 11 U.S. gallons. Thats about as low as I'd want to run the car. Also, I've noticed fuel starvation problems under hard cornering when the tank was low.