I ran out of gas the other day, and ever since, my gas gauge has had a mind of its own. It is usually either pegged about 1/4 tank past where it would normally stop at Full, or moving between full and a half tank, when i know i have no more than a 1/4 tank of gas.

Is this a problem with the gauge itself, since it went past where it normally gets pegged at Full. Or is it a problem with the sending unit? If so, where is the sending unit?

I usually ride around on 1/4 tank or less, and just put enough gas in to get me by
I guess this will put an end to that.

Thanks,
-David-

 

our gauges suck, I have the same problem in my 95. When it is full, it goes past the full mark, and when it gets 1/2 tank, it goes to 1/4 in less than 10 minutes. It's just the gauge and the tank itself since it's oddly shaped. Hell, I don't know what is wrong with them, but one time my gauge was near the E mark while I was driving, then it jumped back up to full, and dove down to empty......the gas gauge is posessed

 

I just got back from driving to California and after filling up, the guage would peg past full. When it finally pointed to full, I had already driven 190 miles. Ended up being 418 miles(last 32 city) on that tank full. Filled it back up with 17.4 gallons.
And now when running it down near empty and then filling it up. I can get over 16.5 gallons in. How's that possible?

 

BlitzPuppet,
I don't think I'll rule out posession quite yet, you never know.

Mine used to do what you described too, i think it has to do with the pressure built up in the tank. Mine always seemed decently accurate right after adding gas.

But recently I think it may have become posessed, it doesen't do what it used to do. It is always visibly moving, like theres a spring broken in it, or the wire is shorting out somewhere, and causing it to spike and dip. It worked fine until I ran out of gas the last time. Now it won't stay at a steady reading more than about a second.

The dash is a pain to take apart on these cars too, isn't it?

Then again, my car has been missing pretty bad while warm lately, so if the sending unit is in the fuel pump, they may both be taking a hike together.

 

I don't know what it is but it is very annoying when I go into a turn and my gauge will go to empty just from the turn, then go back up to 1/4 or 1/2 when I straighten out. But my car takes about 50-70 miles before it actually starts to go down towards the full mark, then when it is down at the 1/2 mark, it takes like 20 miles to go to the 1/4 mark. I don't know, but I only trust the mileage that I actually put on the tank, and not the gauge itself.

As for BLK96, you must have had a DRY tank and some pretty DRY lines. 17.4 gallons? I think the tank holds 15.5 and the lines hold 3 or so gallons .

 

My gauge is pretty consistent but off by quite
a bit.

Indicated - Actual
full - full
3/4 - 1/2
1/2 - 1/4
1/4 - 1/8
1/8 - pray you find a station soon

 

how did you find the actual amounts per each indication?

 

What he posted is pretty normal. It's judged by experience, knowing your gas mileage and how many miles you had driven.

 

I agreed with everything he said about our gauges being consistently inacurate. It sounds reasonable to me though, i just wanted to know how he arived at it.

 

I have tried filling the tank at various intervals to figure
out what was going on. It's not exact but close enough.

The most important thing is to always fill up once you
reach 1/4 tank, don't put it off even if you are busy.

 

My gas guage is pretty inacurate aswell. Any known ways to fix this?

 

mine goes down when im turning then back up when im going straight. Also,it does seem to go the 1/4 tank line rather quickly from the 1/2 tank line. Also,my guage is always showing a reading even with the car off,is that normal? Exampls-if i have half a tank,ieven if i turn off the car,itll show i have half a tank.i thought the guages are supposed to "turn off" with the car???

 

ive got 3 gallons or so left when it hits the red

 

i drove 10miles with it pegged on E, though i wasnt going to make it but somehow i did... When i first got the car i ran out of gas 2 times because of that stupid gauge..

 

The three problems I've found with the accuracy of Camaro gas gauges are:

1) The gas tank is oddly shaped so there is no linear drop in the needle. Mine will go from absolutely full to a 1/2 full in about 175 miles (give or take) then the needle plummets to "E" in about another 75 miles.
2) Gasoline expands and contracts with heat, so, for example, on a cold morning the needle will be resting on 3/4, later on, in the hot afternoon, the needle may be much closer to the "F" mark.
3) The plastic float, over time, tends to absorb and take on fluid (gas) which makes the sender unit report incorrectly.