Which models had the funky FUEL guage?

[SnowBird]

90 awd

Ive been getting bad gas mileage so I ran it till the needle was one the line, no fuel light. I then put exactly 8 gallons of gas in and it took me to 3/4 of a tank!?! Shouldnt it be around half? I cant figure out if this could be why I am calculating bad gas mileage or Im getting worse mileage then I think. Im figuring Im getting a little over 200 miles a tank. I ordered a new O2 sensor that it one the way.

 

[Boost92awd]

Your calculating wrong. Next time fill your tank completely full. Reset your trip odometer. Then drive it untill atleast half the tank is gone. Then fill the tank back up. Divide your mileage by how many gallons you put in the car. On my almost stock 92 AWD I get anywhere from 20-23 MPG.

 

[SnowBird]

Your calculating wrong. Next time fill your tank completely full. Reset your trip odometer. Then drive it untill atleast half the tank is gone. Then fill the tank back up. Divide your mileage by how many gallons you put in the car. On my almost stock 92 AWD I get anywhere from 20-23 MPG.

Alright, Ill try that, I just thought it was weird that I was on empty and 8 gallons got me to 3/4.

 

[Achelea]

I usually drive til the Idiot light comes on.

For me it's about 10 gallons or so.

My lowest milage so far was 180 miles for a full tank.

18 Mpg is baaad.

Right now I'm hypermiling to see how high I can get my fuel milage. I've gotten upwards of 25+ when I stay out of boost and drive like grandma.

 

[untouchablecc]

Here is a tip. Fill up drive till you think your low an make sure you have a gas can with a few gallons in it. Reset your mileage at full an drive till you run out or start to run out then throw your spare gas in out of your can.

 

[3tcpower]

Am I the only one concerned with running it so low that the light comes on? I have always been told this is not good for the car.

Normally, if a car I have is having gauge issues, I will fill, runn for a 100 miles then refill. You can get an accurate gauge of your mpg's then and then live by the trip.

Are there any aftermarket gauges that work with the stock sender?

 

[Captainredeyez]

When I had my 1G, I had fuel gauge problems too. I learned very quickly to live by the trip. Keeping a little gas can in the back isn't a bad idea until you figure out when you have to refill.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

8 gallons into a 12 gallon tank is 2/3 full. Therefore, It's close... Should be between half and 3/4 but given it's an 18 y/o car there may be some error. And yes guys, I realize the tank is actually 13 gallons but when the light comes on in my car the most I can get in there is 12 gallons.

 

[95redturboawd]

Well I still don't know for sure how many gallons our tanks hold, but if the light wasn't on yet there might have been a couple gallons still in the tank.

 

[tunernewb92]

Am I the only one concerned with running it so low that the light comes on? I have always been told this is not good for the car.

Normally, if a car I have is having gauge issues, I will fill, runn for a 100 miles then refill. You can get an accurate gauge of your mpg's then and then live by the trip.

Are there any aftermarket gauges that work with the stock sender?

It shouldn't matter, its just pulling fuel. Actually I always run my down to the light in all my cars just because A. gas might be cheaper the next day and B. to make sure I don't have old gas still in the bottom of the tank and that trash doesn't build up in the tank.

 

[3tcpower]

It shouldn't matter, its just pulling fuel. Actually I always run my down to the light in all my cars just because A. gas might be cheaper the next day and B. to make sure I don't have old gas still in the bottom of the tank and that trash doesn't build up in the tank.

I understand that, but my concern lies in the fact that if there is junk in the tank, when you run it low then the junk is more condensed. Plus I would hate to have the injectors starved from running out of gas or the fp sock being clogged. Just my view. If you know nothing is in the tank then its probably not a big deal.

 

[SwitchSkier]

As far as I've seen, all dsms gas gauges suck. I've never had one work right. Mine runs down accurately, but then from 1/4 to 0 it drops really fast. Then I found out I usually have about 5 gallons left when I hit the E mark. They're all different and messed up in their own special way.

 

[tunernewb92]

I understand that, but my concern lies in the fact that if there is junk in the tank, when you run it low then the junk is more condensed. Plus I would hate to have the injectors starved from running out of gas or the fp sock being clogged. Just my view. If you know nothing is in the tank then its probably not a big deal.

Which is why you make the only dsm with a carb.... j/k. Whatever is in the tank would probably just sink to the bottom though, and if you run low its still going to be at the bottom, unless your playing Dukes of Hazzard. But yes I see what your saying about starving the injectors, however I would think you could go atleast 200 miles before filling up unless your boosting at every stop.

 

[SnowBird]

I filled up today from the E line and at 10 gallons it clicked off. I got in the car and the gauge only went up to 7/8ths, so right smack between full and 3/4. And I thought these cars had 15 gallon tanks?

 

[Boost92awd]

Here is a tip. Fill up drive till you think your low an make sure you have a gas can with a few gallons in it. Reset your mileage at full an drive till you run out or start to run out then throw your spare gas in out of your can.

Its actually bad for your fuel pump over time to run your car that low on gas. Its a good way to fry your fuel pump. Also it is never good to run your car out of gas.

 

[my4ATEurV8]

actualy i do believe that our cars have A 17 gallon tank. thats from bone dry, to tip top full. i also have gas gauge problems in mine as well. i drive a 95 talon tsi awd turbo 5 speed.
but when i had a 96 gs non turbo, the gas gauge was allways dead on and that thing got exelent mpg.
like all highway i gould get around 40-43. the mods were a weapon-R high flow intake and exhaust headers. the 2g turbo model should be able to get a little over half that

 

[EvilutionaryTSi]

im pretty sure that a 2g dsm has a 15.9 gal tank. and when the gas light comes on you have aproximatly 2.5 gal reserve left. I usually drive mine till the needle is on empty and the gas light comes on, which is about a 13 gal fill up. not sure if a 1g is different of not though

 

[cano86]

Well my fuel light when out and don't work but I drive my car until the light goes below the line thats when I know I definitely have to put gas. When it goes that low I usually put $50 93octane which is at $3.30 and it fills up, I actually have to push in the last $2 dollars. After the $2 are pushed in and I check how many gallons I put is 15 gallons. I have pretty good gas mileage though since it takes the whole week to run empty again and I be putting around 50 miles per day, so on seven day week is around 350 per tank, plus take in consideration that I have to drive little slower than before since I have my daughter in the car as well.

 

[dyno_detour]

Best way to check gas mileage:

1. Take your car to the gas station and fill up your tank. Write down the exact mileage found on your odometer reading.


2. Drive around like you normally would until your car needs refueling.


3. Fill your tank up again - and this time record how many gallons it takes (you can find that number on the gas pump).

4. Check your odometer again and write down the new number.


5. Subtract your first odometer reading from your second one. This will tell you how many miles you've driven.


6. Divide this number by how many gallons it took to refill your car. The resulting number is your car's current MPG.

Easy huh?

 

[jrohner]

my 1g awd and my 2g awd both have gas gauges that are equally dumb. I can drive for 50 miles with the light on and I'm still lucky to get over 12 gallons in.

On my 1g, I bent the arm for the fuel sending unit down when i replaced the fuel pump, that helped it out a lot. Now it doesn't sit on full for 50 miles and then drop crazy fast all the way down. The only annoying thing is since I didn't move the sensor down for the idiot light, the light is on just below 1/4 on the gauge.

 

[BIGMIXX]

^^^ the correct way of checking the mileage. and dont make a habit of running the tank low .. very bad for pump, and you get less mpg overall.. a tank that is 1/4 full gives more room for vaporization

 

[DGajre777]

Best way to check gas mileage:
1. Take your car to the gas station and fill up your tank. Write down the exact mileage found on your odometer reading.
2. Drive around like you normally would until your car needs refueling.
3. Fill your tank up again - and this time record how many gallons it takes (you can find that number on the gas pump).
4. Check your odometer again and write down the new number.
5. Subtract your first odometer reading from your second one. This will tell you how many miles you've driven.
6. Divide this number by how many gallons it took to refill your car. The resulting number is your car's current MPG.
Easy huh?

What ^^ said. That is exactly how I calculate mine.

 

[brownfinger]

My gas guage has been smoking crack since at least '95. Whenever anything is wrong with the car, I figure the gas guage has been getting other components high. Let's say I just filled up the tank for a trip to Chicago. I'll leave the gas station, then merge onto the interstate. The gas guage reads about 7/8ths, even though I filled it up. ( 14gal. tank on 1G NT, AWD is a smaller, different tank.) The guage will stay on full/ 7/8ths for about 100 miles. Then it drops like a rock to below the 1/2 mark before about 150 miles. Then it sort-of sobers up a little bit for the last half of the tank.
I always fill the tank when I fuel up, then reset the trip odometer. That's like a back-up fuel guage. Plus, you know your approx. mpgs everytime you fill-up. That's a real easy way to tell if you have some kind of engine trouble. If you start getting 15 mpg out of nowhere, there is something wrong with your car. Likewise, if your car is running like poop, but is still getting 25mpg, maybe you should check your plugs before you tear off the head or pry open the ECU. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[bbolca00]

Why don't we just stop running opinions arround the forum and just look at a haynes or a chilton manual. I'm pretty sure we have 15.9 or 16.0 gal tanks. i get anywhere from 23 to 26 mpg driving normal keeping it below boost if at any possible.

well now as it sits, i haven't a drop in the tank, but my gauge shows 3/4 tank. go figure.

 

[TSiAWD666]

im pretty sure that a 2g dsm has a 15.9 gal tank. and when the gas light comes on you have aproximatly 2.5 gal reserve left. I usually drive mine till the needle is on empty and the gas light comes on, which is about a 13 gal fill up. not sure if a 1g is different of not though

The 2g AWD has a 14.6 gallon tank. About .9 to 1 gallon is unusable, meaning you have about 13.6 gallons of usable gas. Don't know about your GS-T though.