gas gauge is a POS!!

jaidedeye · May 13, 2004

im sure im not the only one with is problem...

ok i fill up my car with gas....the first 1/8 th of the tank goes for about 50 miles.....the at 1/4 of a tank it is at about 75 miles at 1/2 a tank it goes to around 100 miles......then the bastard plunges down to 3/8 of a tank at like 115 miles...and from there it moves fast....when the car reads "E" i have like 190 miles on the trip meter...but...when i fill it up the car only takes like 10.5 gallons.......according to my calculations i should get another 90 miles out of my tank of gas ..........the tank is 15 gallons right?

ok...so how do i change out my fuel level sending unit?? i really wanna know how much damn gas i have......

Musclecarfan88 · May 13, 2004

my gas gauge sucks too!

The other day i filled up, gauge said i had a full tank, i didnt, then it went to 3/4, then to 1/2 after only driving 3 miles, and i know i get ****ty milege but it isnt that bad. now its at 1/4 a tank but my gas gauge goes extremely down extremely fast past 1/2. It sits at E for liek 50miles. i only know its time to fill up when my rear end bounces/shakes more than usual.

stangbear427 · May 13, 2004

Yeah, be glad it works at all. This is a Ford we're discussing, and they aren't called idiot gauges for nothing. My wife's '89 says it's full to the top until she has almost nothing left, at which point it plunges to empty. At least yours moves in between some. Want something accurate to go by? FILL your tank every time you get gas, and use your trip reset. You should always know about how much you have left.

The Shape · May 13, 2004

Mine does what you are talking about stangbear. I do exactly what you just suggested, I have learned to just use the trip odometer as a gas gauge. The needle on my gas gauge doesn't start working till I am almost out of gas. It is one of the htings I have come to expect from an older Ford. The gas gauge is gonna be broke, the power steering is gonna whine and it is gonna leak oil somewhere LOL.

stangbear427 · May 13, 2004

And if it's a GT, then at some point, the headlights will start doing the copcar thing
Sounds like we all need new sending units. Not a bad job, if you're almost out of gas anyway.

The Shape · May 13, 2004

LOL yepp if I leave my fog lights on too long they defiently start doing the cop car wig-wag. I have heard the problem my car and your wifes car have could be a "slosh sensor" on the back of the instrument cluster . It is one of those little things that doesn't bother me too much it has been like that ever since I bought the car about 3 years ago.

cjman15 · May 13, 2004

my '89 has a 14 gallon tank... and i have about tha same problem as you... whenever i fill up, it will stay on "F" for about 100 miles, then it will drop slowly... then once it hits half, it drops real quick... and "E" usually means i have about 2 gallons left... so i feel ya

TwoToneTerror · May 13, 2004

Same problem, mine goes up past the "F" and stays there till about 50mi go by, it's usually at about 115mi at 1/2 tank and a line or so above empty it's at about 220mi, before I knew i really had a 15 gal tank i'd fill it up when it was on "E" and my fuel light was on and only put in 10 gal, now i know i have another 5 to go, but I hate driving with my fuel light on and the gauge on "E" so I allways fill up when it needs about 10 gallons, makes calculating gas mileage really easy

-Bart

Matts89LX5.0 · May 13, 2004

i just used the trip odometer on all my mustangs, or fill up every 100 miles just to be safe.

Matt

Pod · May 14, 2004

Another one here with a screwy gauge. Most of the time the needle is so far off the scale at the top, you can't actually see it. It seems to be an electrical type problem in the gauge or wiring, rather than the sender sending the wrong information.
Also, the low fuel light seems to work properly. Does that work from the same sender in the tank as the gauge does?

hllon4whls · May 14, 2004

Some engineers design gas gauges that way to make you think you get better mileage. 94 Astro van company vehicle. 25 gallon tank. Could get about 420 miles out of a tank of gas on the highway. First half of thank (according to the gauge) would net about 300 miles. From 1/2 to E was 100 miles.
I think that they designed it this way so you could say hey I got 300 miles out of 1/2 a tank of gas! Thats like 40 mpg. Statistically most people fill up when the gauge reads between 1/2 and 1/4.
A lot of times I wait till the light comes one. I go about 3 + weeks on my 35 gallon diesel tank in my truck. It is only 13 miles round trip to work.

Wil · May 14, 2004

On my 89Gt it didn't work at all, I had to go by milage, but on my 92Gt it work fine kind of but the "low gas" light doesn't come on since I've owned it. O well, I still love her

GTPTim · Jun 6, 2004

Another gas gauge problem here. .
Mine did what you guys are saying, stays above full for a while, then when it starts going down, it goes down FAST. .
Now, since I've replaced my fuel pump (dead) with a Walbro, it stays at above full, no matter what.. I'm gonna check my wiring first...
Anyone know how to check the Sending unit, and verify it's dead?

88stangmangt · Jun 6, 2004

bad sender needs to be re-placed.

SuperStang83 · Jun 6, 2004

Is this the first car you have ever had? I've had about 20 or so cars and I can't remember any of them not doing this! Seems like every car I have had seems to like to stay at Full for awhile then plumet to Empty! I don't think it helps that the newest car I have ever had was 6 years old at the time either.

Jakob

GTPTim · Jun 6, 2004

No, this is actually my 14th car. I have never had a problem with a gas gauge until this car particularly.
Well, Except my Olds, which after a while, 1/4 tank =BONE DRY.
Other than that, they all seem pretty accurate.

Anywho,
Where can I get a sender unit? I checked Auto-Zone and Advance, can't get 'em there.
I hear the dealer doesn't have them. Can I get a new one somewhere?

Aaron · Jun 6, 2004

I'm yet another one with similar problems..I've learned to deal with it though. My car stays on full for a while, but once it goes down to the 3/4 full mark, it DROPS FAST. I now fill it when it's a little under the 1/2 mark. Damn gauges...

79'293stang · Jun 6, 2004

yeap same problem here mine stays at past full then drops fast with like a gallon of gas left and im bone dry at 1/4

1stpny · Jun 6, 2004

I have the SAME problem sort of..

I top the car off. FULL TANK AND IN HOSE.....Well I got about 100 miles to 1/2 tank. than it slowly goes down from there. When it gets to 1/4 tank of gas all of a SUDDEN the gas needle REGISTERS FULL TANK..... It is weird . But I figure at about 200 miles its time to stop in get gas. I was thinking of replacing the sending unit to see if that fixes it.

mustang88GT · Jun 6, 2004

i have the same problem with mine... the gauge goes from full to empty... but i dont wanna drop 100 bucks on the damn sender.... and my fog lights cause the head lights to do the police light deal... i believe that is s bad breaker but just have not had the time to bust out the meter and accually find the problem...

gas gauge is a POS!!

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