Fuel Gauge Affected by Hard Cornering

Khyron

Member

Oct 20, 2006

68

0

6

Lincoln, NE

Jul 30, 2009

#1

• Jul 30, 2009

• #1

When I'm at the track, really hard cornering will cause my fuel gauge to read almost empty. For example, I can be going down a straight-away and it will read "240 Miles to Empty". Then, when I throw the car into a corner (and I corner VERY hard) it will cause the needle fuel gauge to go down to empty and the display will read something like "3 Miles to Empty". Obviously, the hard cornering is causing the gas in the tank to slam from one side to the other.

Turning the car off/on again will reset the gauge and display. I have already had TSB 06-10-13 performed on my car, which replaces the fuel sending units. Has anyone else experienced this issue? What else would be causing the car to do this? Is there some sort of a "float" that is getting stuck with hard cornering? I'm at a loss.

Thanks in advance..

 

lexluthr69

New Member

May 3, 2006

73

0

0

Huntingdon, CAMBS, UK

Jul 30, 2009

#2

• Jul 30, 2009

• #2

I have also had this happen multiple times, with a restart of the car curing it. I don't know the fix for it, but would love to hear about one if anyone knows.

 

C

COBESGT

Member

Oct 19, 2004

231

0

16

Dubuque, Iowa

Jul 30, 2009

#3

• Jul 30, 2009

• #3

I haven't experienced this issue on my Mustang, but I have experienced a similar issue on my Ford Explorer. We were having issues where the gauges were not going to full after the tank was filled, which caused the on-board computer to state strange things. I contacted my Dealer and he told me that the sensors in the tank can get sulfured-up and cause these mis-readings (this info came from a Ford TSB). Anyway, their suggestion was to add some Chevron Techron "Concentrate Plus" Fuel System Cleaner into the gas tank. Apparently this stuff works good at de-sulfurizing (is that a real word?) the contacts. Anway, we did this and everything went back to normal. Periodically (4 times per year) I'll add some of this to a tank of gas, just as some added insurance of keeping the fuel system clean and allowing the sensors/computers to read properly.

 

Steel Horse

Member

Oct 28, 2008

0

0

16

Altoona, IA

Jul 30, 2009

#4

• Jul 30, 2009

• #4

Probably shouldn't look at the gas gauge and miles to empty readout when running at the track especially through the hard corners.

I think COBESGT has a good place to start.

 

Khyron

Member

Oct 20, 2006

68

0

6

Lincoln, NE

Jul 30, 2009

#5

• Jul 30, 2009

• #5

Steel Horse said:

Probably shouldn't look at the gas gauge and miles to empty readout when running at the track especially through the hard corners.

Click to expand...

Haha.. You are correct. The thing that gets my attention is the low fuel warning alarm sound that goes WHAAAAAAAAA around the corners! It's very annoying.

 

Steel Horse

Member

Oct 28, 2008

0

0

16

Altoona, IA

Jul 31, 2009

#6

• Jul 31, 2009

• #6

Khyron said:

Haha.. You are correct. The thing that gets my attention is the low fuel warning alarm sound that goes WHAAAAAAAAA around the corners! It's very annoying.

Click to expand...

Ok, that makes sense. I wish there was a way to disable that alarm. I can figure out by myself that I am getting low on fuel with out that thing to scare the hell out of me.

 

'08GTcaRED

New Member

Apr 8, 2009

330

0

0

Victorville, CA

Jul 31, 2009

#7

• Jul 31, 2009

• #7

Seriously! Every 5 mi it goes off and annoys me to no end and has woken my wife up several times when she is napping in the car... maybe every 15 mi it should go off or 20 would be nice...

 

Khyron

Member

Oct 20, 2006

68

0

6

Lincoln, NE

Aug 1, 2009

#8

• Aug 1, 2009

• #8

'08GTcaRED said:

Seriously! Every 5 mi it goes off and annoys me to no end and has woken my wife up several times when she is napping in the car... maybe every 15 mi it should go off or 20 would be nice...

Click to expand...

This actually brings up a good question.. Can the low fuel audible alarm be shut off somehow? Anyone happen to know?

 

Sanctus

Member

May 17, 2005

146

2

19

Trabuco Canyon

Aug 6, 2009

#9

• Aug 6, 2009

• #9

+1 I have actually broken the fuel gauge on a track day. It was a tough drive home not knowing how much fuel I had in the tank. It would produce seemingly random numbers that would change every minute or two. One time it said I had 450mi till empty!

Funny fact: I took it to the dealer the next day and they were going to drain the tank to replace the fuel sensor unit (where the rear seat cushion is) and there wasn't a drop to drain. It ran out of gas when they turned it on to test the new part. Then they didn't have any gas on hand to fill the tank up enough to go 1/4 of a block to the gas station leaving me stuck to wait for them to give me a ride to fill up an old gascan. Awesome service for $165.

I wish I could say the problem is fixed but like clockwork around 10minutes into the session the alert will go off and then reset itself over, and over, and over... Maybe it's time to upgrade to a fuel cell but $$$$

 

0

06dks197

New Member

Aug 6, 2009

7

0

0

houston, tx

Aug 6, 2009

#10

• Aug 6, 2009

• #10

I've had it happen as well, twice. Supposedly the tsb took care of that but I guess not

 

scottfree

New Member

Nov 20, 2006

23

0

1

Little Rock, AR

Aug 9, 2009

#11

• Aug 9, 2009

• #11

Posted via Mobile Device
this happens to me all the time. never thought much of it.

 

sonnier

Member

Jan 7, 2008

56

0

6

Pearland, TX

Aug 12, 2009

#12

• Aug 12, 2009

• #12

Happens to me every time I go to the track. I try to keep more the 1/2 a tank and these seems to keep it from doing that. My car is so loud and I'm too preoccupied to notice when that reminder does come on most of the time, though.

 

Sanctus

Member

May 17, 2005

146

2

19

Trabuco Canyon

Aug 18, 2009

#13

• Aug 18, 2009

• #13

Happened to me again today but just while driving around town. I guess that's a good barometer of how hard I'm gripping in the corners...

 

S

speed1972

Founding Member

Mar 13, 2002

891

0

16

Denver, CO - Buckley AFB

Mar 21, 2010

#14

• Mar 21, 2010

• #14

Did anyone ever get this problem fixed or is it still an issue? I'm having the same problem and now i'm thinking it is build up since my car sat for 6 months while I was deployed. Guess I need to dump some techron in it to see if that helps. Do the parts stores sell it?

I replaced the driver side thinking I did something to the sending unit when I pulled it out to add an extra fuel pump (supercharger added), but now I think it is just gunk build up. One thing I noticed, it seems to only do it on hard right turns which, but I'm not replacing the right one because the dealer only wants to sell the whole part and it's almost $200.

 

Khyron

Member

Oct 20, 2006

68

0

6

Lincoln, NE

Mar 22, 2010

#15

• Mar 22, 2010

• #15

speed1972 said:

Did anyone ever get this problem fixed or is it still an issue? I'm having the same problem and now i'm thinking it is build up since my car sat for 6 months while I was deployed.

Click to expand...

Still not fixed for me. However, I coincidentally had the same problem as you after this winter. My car sat for 3 months, and when I first started it up, the fuel gauge needle went to 1/2 tank, however the computer readout said "0 miles to empty." I trusted the needle and went for a drive. While driving, the computer slowly crept up "9 miles to empty".. "36 miles.." "90 miles.." and finally settled around "170 miles to empty".

So who knows what is going on. Definitely seems to be a computer problem OR perhaps some build up causing something to stick. I tried some Techron last season to avail.