What's with my fuel gauge??

[Viper Byte]

What\'s with my fuel gauge??

I know that my viper has a 19 gallon tank but everytime the needle hits "0", the most fuel that I can put in is ~ 13 gallons! Is there a 6 gallon reserve?

Does anyone else have the same issue?

Thanks!!

 

[Jim Sullivan]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

When my 94 is reading empty,empty it still has 5gal. in there. My dealer offered to fix it but I declined and grown to like the discrepancy.

 

[jamie]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Yup, samething here, at least you will never run out of gas.

 

[Jerry Scott[CO]]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

This is a problem with most American car fuel gages. The engineers have taken the attitude that you need an extra margin of safety when the tank reads empty. My Audi has a gage that has calibrated marks near the empty mark to show the exact number of gallons left in the tank and when it reads empty, it is empty. I much prefer this to the American philosophy of trying to save the average Joe from running out of gas. A performance car such as a Viper should accurate read the fuel in the tank. Maybe if we squawk this enough, it will get changed.

Another squawk that I have is, when the tank is full the gage goes past the full mark. Why even have a full mark, if the calibration is going to be this far off?

In summary I sympathize with you.

 

[CAP]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

All I know is that the gauges seem to vary from car to car. If the needle was on empty in the '96, it was EMPTY. (Pushed it into a gas station once - only once.)

The '01 has been below empty - not on purpose, forgot to check the gauge - and I still made it to the station. It only took ~17.5 gallons to fill.

 

[Snake Bitten]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

My fuel gauge is obviously off...or the MPG estimates on the sticker were GROSSLY exagerated...this thing drinks more than me! Maybe if I could keep my foot out of it...nah, impossible!

 

[TRAMP 13]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

I have my RT for two years the gauge has never may it to the full line,I just keep up with the milages and just put more in.

 

[Sam Fischer]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Yes my 97 RT-10 has 5-6 gal left when it shows emty no big deal rather have it that way

 

[Viper Byte]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Snake Bitten,
Your avitar just dawned on me!! "Snake in the grass", right? Very clever.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

My 97 GTS is empty when it reads 1/4.

My 98 RT/10 has 3-4 gallons left on E.

 

[Snake Bitten]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Viper Byte...you are the first one that has noticed that...that black asp will bite you every time! It sure took a bite out of my wallet!

 

[Newport Viper]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Remember the Seinfield where Kramer takes the car from the lot and test drives it!? The gauge runs to zero with the used car guy in it! Classic! It kept going and going. Viper is the same way, I have six gallons left on E.

 

[Viper99]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Same in my '99 RT/10. I just fill the car up whenever the gauge reads 1/2. I don't even know if there's a "low on gas" idiot light in the car???

 

[MES]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Mine seems to go down real fast once past the 1/2 tank mark, it goes like this

3/4 to 1/2 = takes 75 miles
1/2 to 1/4 = takes 30 miles
1/4 to 0/0 = takes 15 miles

once it gets to 1/4 I have to find some gas real fast

 

[99 R/T 10]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
When the needle is in the middle, I don't know if it's half full or half empty???
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very nice, nail on the head. And Jerry, if we didn't have the extra cushion(4 gallons for me), I would be stuck along the side of road like a bug stuck to the front facia.

Mike

 

[genXgts]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

Try living up here boys, I blow $50 bucks in petrol on a night of cruising, ouch!!!

Then again a beer is 14.99 before taxes, so it's all relative.

My gas gauge varies all over the place, I try not to pay attention and keep it in the 1/4 to 3/4 range, I feel fat driving around when it's to the rim for some strange reason, like having a chubby passenger or something. I've got issues.....

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by genXgts:
Try living up here boys, I blow $50 bucks in petrol on a night of cruising, ouch!!!

Then again a beer is 14.99 before taxes, so it's all relative.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Gotta love that "free medical care."

 

[Jay Herbert]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

One thing to remember is the electric fuel pump is cooled buy the gas.... so the "engineering" rumor is the the design engineers want to always keep it in gas.... how do you do that? by making sure there is gas in the tank when it reads "E". It's a theory

another thing you'll notice is it stays on "F" a long time... a mental game the manufacturers play to make the driver feel good for a long time after they fill up, "Hey, look how long my gas stay full after I fill-er-up". (LOL)

 

[BigsViper]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

I notice in my "00 GTS that when I punch it the guage will drop almost a 1/4, and when I brake hard it goes up almost a 1/4. So when I start nearing empty I slam on the brakes and feel a whole lot better! Haven't run out yet!

 

[99 Sidewinder]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

I thought that I was going to run out of fuel this past Saturday. I was at the Englishtown AutoX and drag event. I was so focused on driving that I was not paying attention to the gas gage. I finally looked at the gage at the drag strip starting line and it was on Empty! I was not sure that my snake would even make its pass to the finish line! After my pass I went straight to the track pumps which were closed for the day. So I drove to the nearest station just above idle to conserve fuel. After all of the stress of running out, the tank was topped off with about 15 gallons. (So I had about 4 gallons left.) I wish I read this post before Saturday! Oh well, I am now glad to know there is some reserve.

 

[slaughterj]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

I thought the RT/10s tended to have ~ 1/4 tank left when at 0, while the GTSs tended to run out at ~ 1/4 mark - are the 98+ cars all reading the same way now (i.e., ~ 1/4 tank left when reading at 0)?

When I'm solidly at 0, the car takes ~ 14 gallons, of what I understand to be an 18 gallon tank, so I drive it for a while after hitting 0...

 

[CAP]

Re: What\'s with my fuel gauge??

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 99 Sidewinder:
Oh well, I am now glad to know there is some reserve. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You really have to know your car. They vary. Like I said before, in my '96, when the needle was on "E", it was EMPTY, no gas, some fumes maybe, but not enough to keep the engine running. And that's the truth.