Made peace with my gas gauge

[lee]

All along I have been assuming Subaru intended their gas gauge to work like most, i.e., the marks were for full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, and empty.

I've now decided they are for full, 7/8, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and there is no empty mark.

I feel calibrated now. I'm even sleeping better at night.

BTW, Happy President's Day for any of you presidents out there.

[ensteele]

Lee

I am glad you are sleeping now. The other positive thing about the gauge is that when it reads empty, it is still half full. Where else can you get such a good deal.

[b3lha]

Is that why I can add $20 worth of petrol and the needle still reads empty? Or is it because $20 doesn't buy much petrol over here?

[lee]

yes and yes

[n00b on demand]

i was on E....added 20 bucks of fuel and it looks like it moved a milimeter....i was like WTF!!!

[Sidewinder]

Originally posted by soobiesvx93
i was on E....added 20 bucks of fuel and it looks like it moved a milimeter....i was like WTF!!!

To quote my friend Rob: *shrugs*

Do the FWD models do this, too? It's the driveshaft hump in the tank that's the main culprit, no?

[ensteele]

It takes a while for it to climb up to where it should be after putting in some fuel.

[RojoRocket]

Mine climbs up, falls down, climbs back up, falls back down. WTH?? This can be all in the space of 5, or 25 miles at freeway speeds. All's well til 1/2 tank, then it's anybody's guess. Mystery gauge indeed!
guess it gives the car "personality"!!


Glenn

[immortal_suby]

Originally posted by RojoRocket
Mine climbs up, falls down, climbs back up, falls back down. WTH?? This can be all in the space of 5, or 25 miles at freeway speeds. All's well til 1/2 tank, then it's anybody's guess. Mystery gauge indeed!
guess it gives the car "personality"!!


Glenn

My wife's svx does this. Really freaks your passengers out.

"Dude - are we gonna run out of gas? "

[upnygimp]

Not an SVX story, but I've gotten to know my Avenger's gas habits almost too well. I know that when the orange gas light comes on that I have about 50 miles before its gonna need to be filled up. The last time I filled it up, I put 16 gallons into a 16.5 gallon tank. I knew I was just on the bleeding edge, too and it wasnt even stumbling yet.

[SSSVX]

Originally posted by lee
All along I have been assuming Subaru intended their gas gauge to work like most, i.e., the marks were for full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, and empty.

I've now decided they are for full, 7/8, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and there is no empty mark.

I feel calibrated now. I'm even sleeping better at night.

BTW, Happy President's Day for any of you presidents out there.

I think my gas gauge works pretty normal. It doesn't climb up and fall down. It's pretty stabil. When the fuel warning light comes on, I still drag it for another 30-40miles then I can get 16.XX gallons about 33-35bucks. That's the most I have had.

I only got about 210-250miles/tank due to the hilly places all over and very stop-and-go traffics in this town. At the highway, the mpg is definitely improved.

For my observations in city,
F-3/4 - about 50miles,
F-1/2 - about 100+miles,
F-1/4- about 150+ miles,
F-warning light - about 190miles

I consistently spend about 250+bucks for gas money per month, is that any gas program we can get more gallons for the same price we pay, if we stick with the favorite gas station?

Btw, Happy President's Day too!

[RojoRocket]

Actually now that I'm used to this behavior it doesn't bother me so much. I just conjur up this image of my car very industriously moving fuel from one side of the saddle tank to the other. She must get bored with so many miles under triple digits and needs something to keep her occupied.

Glenn

I tried a while back to explain to another owner how the "jet pump", driven by the return flow from the motor, moves fuel from the non-pickup side to the other as part of the saddle tank design. Wonder how many other cars use such an elegant design to befuddle their owners?????

[Ron Mummert]

I'm sure a few of you geezers (you, not me) remember the pre-60's Beetle that made you pop the hood & insert the factory provided wooden stick gauge into the, what.... 7 gallon (25 liter) tank? If you forgot to insert your stick (no comment), after the bug sputtered, you'd simply flip the under dash handle, & another liter or two of petrol would be released to get the 30 HP beast safely to the nearest petrol depot.
And you thought the SVX was ahead of its time!

Ron (those were the days, my friend!).

And when you forgot to turn the reserve handle back after refueling, and subsequently ran completely out of gas, you just flagged down a passing pedestrian and got him to help carry the car to the nearest gas station...