Date:         Wed, 2 Apr 2003 17:28:36 -0800
Reply-To:     laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Delanty <laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM>
Subject:      Re: Range on a tank of gas?
In-Reply-To:  <3E8B7D0C.5070301@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

>I think everyone who owns a WBX powered machine needs to run it dry at
>least once. Then fill it back up, one gallon at a time, checking the
>guage setting with each gallon, and taking notes. That way one has a
>record of what the needle positions really mean.

Funny this thread should come up (almost *not* funny)
I verified today (I suspected it already) that my gas gauge LIES big time...

My gauge was still quite a long ways above the orange "reserve zone",
what I might consider to be about 1/4 to 1/3 of a tank on a real gauge.

I was cruising on the freeway when it started to lose power. At first I
thought it was the "lose power and die" syndrome that I've been having,
but I was fortunate enough to have to do a minor swerve to avoid some
debris in the road. As soon as I swerved, power came back!
A few seconds later it was losing power again so I shook the steering
back and forth a bit and the power came back again. I managed almost
2 miles by giving the steering a good shake every 5-10 seconds.
Apparently it sloshed enough remaining gas around to get the pickup tube
to suck a bit more. It also makes the driver behind drop back quite a ways...

Made it to an offramp and fortunately not only was there a gas station
right there, but the light was green at the intersection... what are the odds?

I put gas in it and it took 15.572 gallons...
The owners manual says it takes 16 gallons.

So when my gauge says a little over 1/4 full, it means "start walking".
I got real lucky, because I found out without getting stuck somewhere.

Guess I'll be fixing *that* soon....

Steve