Don't know about your particular vanagon, but in general, the gas gauge is only an indicator, not a precise measure, of the volume of fuel in the tank. That the gauge needle did not indicate fuel content with 2 gallons in the tank is no surprise, and that the needle indicated some fuel content when empty would also be no surprise for many vehicles. I would expect consistency, however. I have learned (the hard way) that when the gauge on my camper indicates a quarter tank, the tank is right at empty. If mine were inconsistent, however, I would expect an electrical glitch. Dave Mc
On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 10:29 PM, Steve Williams wrote: > I ran my '84 Westy out of gas today, thank goodness within walking > distance of a gas station. > > I knew the fuel was low, but the gauge was still well above the red > band, and I've driven more miles on a tank. I was running errands > and decided to complete just one more task before filling up. > > I put 16.1 gallons into the 16-gallon tank. The van got 19.0 mpg on > this tank, so that's pretty normal. > > The question is: Why didn't the gauge dip into the red, as it always > has before? > > A clue: The gauge didn't budge when I poured a 2-gallon gas can into > the tank. > > When the engine died, I was sure it was because I had depleted the > battery. I'm the guy that keeps posting to the list about the low > voltage from my alternator. But that wasn't the problem this time. |
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