Gas Gauge fluctuates...anyone else?

[phoenix6]

OK Lets say I have half a tank of gas left in the car. I turn left, the gauge moves to the right towards full, I pull a right turn, gauge goes down. Does this happen to anyone else? Every car Ive owned or driven b4 this one has NEVER done that. This bird has done it since I bought it a year ago, its a 2000.

[wicked]

My car is a 1999 and mine gas gauge does the same thing if you turn the car off and then back on it will go back where it was.

[phoenix6]

Yeah, just annoying sometimes, its one of those small things I cant stand with this car.

[FirebirdHatesRice]

Yeah mine does that too...I think I remember reading somewhere on the boards its because our gas tanks have this weird "V" shape to them so the gas guage sender unit has a tendency to move around alot when you're making tight turns or hitting the brakes. When I hit my brakes I've seen the gauge go from full to 1/4 tank and right back up again, its definitely annoying. Do you also have the same problem where the gas guage stays at "F" for about 9 our of the 15.5 gallons in the tank then just starts dropping really fast from there?

[phoenix6]

Yeah I do. Our gas tanks need some work, they need to release some aftermarket **** or something to fix this. Im tired of thinking I have to fill up whne i still have like 5 gallons left.

[99v6cam]

Originally posted by wicked:
My car is a 1999 and mine gas gauge does the same thing if you turn the car off and then back on it will go back where it was.

that makes 2 of us

[camaroman1181]

yup.. common issue.. ive seen this though with pretty much every car i've ever driven so i wouldnt be too concerned with it.

[zerofailure]

lol am i the only one that notices it if i slam on the brakes i believe i get a full tank of gas, and if i hit the gas i go empty... or that may be vice versa, i foreget but i have a 97

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

Originally posted by zerofailure:
lol am i the only one that notices it if i slam on the brakes i believe i get a full tank of gas, and if i hit the gas i go empty... or that may be vice versa, i foreget but i have a 97

x2

mine is a 94

[stealth1281]

yeah, my 98 fluctuates no matter what I do. i've learned to get used to it

[ChameleonGreen]

This happens because the thingy-ma-jigger that measures the tank is kind of jank. It also has to do with the shape of the tank it self. Mounted inside the tank on the shaft that holds the fuel pump there is a super flimsy metal rod with a foam-like sustance on the end. Obviously this thing floats and the height of it determines what the gas guage says. When you turn a corner, all the gas leans to one side of the tank, causing the foam piece to shift height. It's mounted more towards the passenger side and towards the back of the tank ( on a V8 anyway ) so in theory when you make a right hand turn all the gas shifts to the drivers side causing the foam to drop as well as the guage. When you turn left all the gas shifts to the passenger side and since that's where the foam is all the gas on that side causes it to rise and read more gas in the tank.

As far as having a full tank of gas for the first 100 miles and then it dropping very fast thereafter, well, my theory for this is that when the tank is full the gas level is higher than the foam piece can rise. In other words, the metal rod is too short, and actually holds it under the true fill level. Then once it drops to a certain point, it starts to get a true reading, but also by this point the shape of gas tank makes it drop a lot faster because the tank is wider at the top than at the bottom.

[Xious]

Different cars do different things. The F-body reads the signal straight as it is, meaning if it's at 1/2 a tank, then it reads half a tank. As soon as if moves (say in cornering or such), the reading will change.

Many other manufacturers use a simple algorithm for thier fuel readings. Usually, it's just an average of the fuel over a certain amount of time. That means, that if the float is at half a tank then changes to a quarter of a tank then back, the fuel guage will not change (at least not much) because the drop did not really change the average fuel reading.

Hopefully that made sense. It made sense in my head. Anyways, personally, I don't really use the fuel guage. I set the trip meter every time I fill up and guage when I need my next fill up from that. Usually around 300-320 miles I'll fill up, even though I know I still have two or three gallons left.

[TheGreenPunisher]

First time all these problems happened to me....i literally stopped my car in the middle of the road to get out and see if i still had my gas tank.... [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[phoenix6]

Originally posted by TheGreenPunisher:
First time all these problems happened to me....i literally stopped my car in the middle of the road to get out and see if i still had my gas tank.... [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

I didnt do all that, I knew what happened, I was just like, SON OF A *****!

[Deuce]

does anyone else have their ses light come on when ur near half tank, cuz mine seems to do it everytime and its really annoying.