Gas gage is wrong?

[Aries1911]

92ex with 202k on it.. Just bought it, and was drivin around town, with half a tank of gas. Went into the store came back out, car won't start. Checked oil n all that then walked to gas station put two gal in a tank n transfered it to my car. Car starts. Why would it be out of gas when the gage says I have over quarter tank left? And how do I fix it?

[93SM4_CB7]

whenever you fill it up reset the counter .. and now you should have an idea what empty is . on your meter .. mynes is the same way .. it almost shut of @ the gas station while alittle below half a tank so i never let it get to the same spot and i been good ever since

[MikeW]

Fuel pump/fuel filter?

Maybe you werent out of gas. It couldve been a number of things.

[mtnbikaah]

sounds like a flaky main relay?

[Aries1911]

Fuel pump/fuel filter?

Maybe you werent out of gas. It couldve been a number of things.

I got a new fuel relay recently, but what else could it have been?my car needs lotso work.. :-/ but im happy i have it!

[Shag Wagon]

Ignitor MIGHT be taking a dump on you. All I can honestly tell you is drive it until it runs out of gas but of course if it still runs when the gas light comes on then you dont have a fuel guage problem.

[Reignstarz]

Your sending unit is going bad.

Change the sending unit. It's on the tank you can access it through your back seat pull it down and you see a rubber thing remove that and then you'll see the access hole.

[customchord]

Sounds like someone has put a fuel pump in that car. If you don't do it right the fuel screen won't reach the bottom of the tank. Result=stalling coming to a fast stop, or turning fast, and running out of gas above empty. Also could have been your main relay thats easy to check.

[Aries1911]

so.. the fuel pump is in wrong? do i have to have it completely replaced, or can it be fixed?

[cloudasc]

What is the most amount of gas in gallons you've put in your car? We have 17gallon tank btw, and I usually fill up when my gas light comes on, and that puts me at about 14 gallons. Driving it till it wants to stall will have you put in close to 16 gallons. I've also noticed that if I park on an incline with only 3 gallons left in my tank, I never had a starting issue, but it would die a minute after starting it, if I let it idle long enough. Start & Drive away no problem.

[Aries1911]

hehehe.. um.. i've never seen the light on in this one.. i'd had it for two days when it didn't start for whatever reason.. it was a little below half a tank, so i never let it get below that. But what you are saying is, even if the gage is wrong, the light is right?

[cloudasc]

hehehe.. um.. i've never seen the light on in this one.. i'd had it for two days when it didn't start for whatever reason.. it was a little below half a tank, so i never let it get below that. But what you are saying is, even if the gage is wrong, the light is right?

No, the reason I was asking is so that if your really at half a tank according to your gauge, you shouldn't be able to fit more then 8-10 gallons. Its to help check if your fuel gauge is really accurate, and help isolate your problem. I'd say fill up your tank till the gas station pump shuts off, and see how many gallons it took to top your tank off. With that number, and approximately where the needle was sitting on the gauge before you added gas, you should be able to assertain whether your gauge is reading correctly. The otherway to check how much fuel you have is to drain and measure, but thats messy.

[TomQuick]

The important thing here is don't jump to conclusions, and start replacing things just yet. You don't know for sure that you were actually out of gas. While the car did start after adding gas, there was also a bit of time that lapsed between the initial no start condition, and when you tried again and it did start.

In particular, the main relay could cause the exact same symptoms, a failure to start, followed by it starting fine a little while later. You need to investigate some, and determine if your fuel gauge really is inaccurate first, before you start throwing parts at it.

If your gauge is showing half a tank now, and it takes 14 gallons to fill it up, then you know there is something wrong with reading. It's a 17 gallon tank, so half a tank should be around 8 gallons, so it should only take around 9 gallons to fill it up. A gallon or two one way or the other wouldn't suggest a problem, but if there is a big difference, then the gauge is likely wrong.

On the other hand, if it turns out that the gauge is reading about where it should be, then you have to look at other possibilities, like the main relay is bad, or the fuel pump has been installed wrong, or something else is amiss.

[Aries1911]

OK i think the last time i put gas in it it was around 7-9 gallons. ive also gone arond 150-200 miles on a little over half a tank if that helps any.. so you all think i should just run it till its completely out to find out?

[TomQuick]

1) Go to the gas station.
2) Make note of the reading on your gas gauge (full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, Empty).
3) Fill tank until pump turns off on it's own.
4) Make note of how many gallons it took to fill (5,5.5,6, etc.)
5) A full tank is 17 gallons. Divide the number of gallons the tank took by 17, and subtract the resulting decimal from 1.
6) The result is about what your gas gauge should be reading (ex. It takes 8 gallons to fill. 8/17 = 0.47---- That is pretty close to 0.5, so we'll round off. 1 minus 0.5 is one half, so your gas gauge should have read 1/2. If it took 16 gallons, 16/17 is .94--- which we'll round off to .9 1-.9 is .1, so it should have read pretty close to empty)
7) If there is a BIG difference between the decimal you calculated, and the reading on your gas gauge (for instance, you calculated .5, but the gauge was reading 3/4) then there is a problem, and the next step is to trouble shoot your gas gauge / sending unit.
8) If the decimal you calculate agrees with the reading on your gas gauge, then the next step is to figure out what was really keeping your engine from starting.

If the math is too difficult for you, write down your gas gauge reading, fill the tank and write down how many gallons it took, then post the info here, and I'll do the math for you.