Gas Gage Weird Occurrence
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 29
Likes: 4
From: Rochester, Ny
Gas Gage Weird Occurrence
I was driving on the expressway for about 40 minutes, my gage read between 1/4 and 1/2, no prob. I got off, and I was going to this campsite. The road up was very steep. Suddenly a bell was ringing, the red "Check your gages" came on, the message screen said "LOW FUEL", and the Gas Gage dropped to 0. I was scared because I wondered if the engine would be able to get enough fuel to keep going up the next 600 feet or so. Ok, I made it, and I then parked with the nose down.
When I restarted, the gage still read 0, and all warnings still on, even when I headed back down the hill. I thought this was really stupid, because I know I had over 1/4 of a tank. But I decided to fill up ASAP. So I stopped after 10 mi and filled up. When I turned the engine back on, at first the gage didn't move, then it popped over to full, then it dropped back to 0, then it moved relatively quickly back to full, where it has stayed now for 40 miles. I'm curious to see if it will now reflect the fuel level properly.
Anybody know anything about this?
Thanks.
Randy
When I restarted, the gage still read 0, and all warnings still on, even when I headed back down the hill. I thought this was really stupid, because I know I had over 1/4 of a tank. But I decided to fill up ASAP. So I stopped after 10 mi and filled up. When I turned the engine back on, at first the gage didn't move, then it popped over to full, then it dropped back to 0, then it moved relatively quickly back to full, where it has stayed now for 40 miles. I'm curious to see if it will now reflect the fuel level properly.
Anybody know anything about this?
Thanks.
Randy
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,156
Likes: 0
From: S.W. Ohio
This happend to me once when I was in FLA. I believe some fuels may leave deposits on the measurement portion of the gauge. I added fuel injector cleaner and the issue never happend again. It can be fairly common occurance, but it does give you the *****'s when it happens.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,857
Likes: 2
From: pawleys island sc
use a couple of bottles of Chevron Techtron fuel additive in 2 consecutive tank fulls. This is problem thought to be caused by using gas with too much sulfer in it.I don't know if that's entirely true or not but try varying where you buy your gas and only stick with major brands.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,720
Likes: 3
From: East Hampton CT
buy top tier gas and you won't have this problem. I've been trying to get Shell whenever possible since that's the only one in the Northeast I can find. I think the economy is slightly lower with the better fuel (more additives=less fuel) but the offset is the detergent quality in the fuel keeping everything running right.
http://www.toptiergas.com/
http://www.toptiergas.com/
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 17,786
Likes: 4
From: Redsox, Pats, Celts & Bruins !!! Redsox Nation !!!
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12
Originally Posted by 99 vett babycar
use a couple of bottles of Chevron Techtron fuel additive in 2 consecutive tank fulls. This is problem thought to be caused by using gas with too much sulfer in it.I don't know if that's entirely true or not but try varying where you buy your gas and only stick with major brands.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,562
Likes: 5
From: South East coast Florida
All true above. One last step is to never overfill. When the gas station nozzle clicks off, that's it. Don't try a squeeze in any more fuel. This has happened to me several times as well.
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 74
Likes: 1
Your right tank fuel level sender is probably dirty. It’s common problem. Techron helps clean it. The way most cars work the sender is submerged in gasoline almost all the time. Your Corvette has two gas tanks. The way the Corvette fuel system is plumbed the right sender is only submerged in gasoline until the fuel level goes below ½ tank. Then the right tank is empty and the sender is in gas fumes only. If you are mechanically inclined, the sender is not too hard to clean. If you clean it you will see the problem. The resister will have some build up on it causing some of the windings to short out and cause an incorrect output. Do a search on fuel sender and there should be a procedure on how to get to it. A pencil eraser and some contact cleaner work well to clean it. If you use techron make sure you have at least ¾ of a tank of gas or you won’t get any techron into the right tank. My experience is that techron works somewhat but cleaning really works.
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Advanced
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
From: Asheboro NC
Me Too
This happened to me on the way to the beach this weekend. I've only had my 98 (41K miles) for about a week and this was the first road trip. About 30-45 minutes into the drive the "check gauges" light came on and the fuel guage bottomed out. Since I would have noticed if the fuel tank had fallen off I assumed an electronic glitch. It started working a couple of hours later and worked fine all weekend until it did the same thing on the way home. The gauge never came back on the way home, but worked fine when I went out on an errand after being home for about 30 minutes. When I talked to another owner today he told me heard several GM products were having this same problem due to fuel mixtures.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 12,346
Likes: 5
From: Mustang OK
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Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 249
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
I also had the same similar problem. As soon as it happened I put in a couple of bottles of Techron and it cured it right up. Hasn't come back and it's a long time since it occurred. Another vote for the Techron treatment. If you have Chevron gas stations in your area they have Techron in the premium fuel. When I travel out of my area, if I see a Chevron I fill up. I try to use Shell or BP in my area. BP premium is actually Amoco Ultimate, just not called that anymore since the takeover of Amoco by BP.
