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An afternoon in the 95 SDV

1255 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  elwesso
I had the day off so I decided to make a trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. It's only about 50 or 60 miles north. normally I can make this trip on a little less than 3 gallons of gas. It shows I have 7 gallons, no problem. Well before I headed north I ran some errands around town, maybe 36 miles total. Still have 7 gallons of fuel. I head to Tenn and notice that going up hill she is cutting out a little, like it's missing under load. I figure ok, I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. I get to where I'm going and I now have 5 gallons of fuel.

I get back in the car a few hours later and it shows E :eek: Well now how in the world did that happen? I stopped at the gas station and filled up. I put 18.75 gallons into the tank, which means I had 1.25 gallons in there already. Driving home I did some quick math and found everything to be correct, except the fuel gage. It seems to be read fine until the level gets to about 1/4 tank. So once again, I guess I need to watch the mileage. Of just fill up when it gets between a half and quarter tank.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on.

Oh yeah, it didn't cut or miss at all on the way home. :rofl:
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IMO, filling the tank when it gets empty is only a good excuse to replace the fuel pump........ When the fuel level gets really low, it will slosh more, so the reading wont be quite right...... And, as it gets lower, the pickup wont be able to suck all the fuel it needs.......

I *always* fill up my car before it gets to 1/4 tank...... Its better on the pump, and its always a little nicer on your wallet.......
I've always had bad luck with fuel guages. My old 75 deville the fuel gauge only worked 1/4 the time, and now my 78 FWB's gauge says full at about half, then drops down really quickly from there. It's always a little scary when you drive 10 miles and the fuel gauge drops by 1/4" (analog gauge - 1978).

But I try to avoid letting it go any lower than 1/4 tank on the gauge, which would be 1/8 tank in reality.
davesdeville said:
I've always had bad luck with fuel guages. My old 75 deville the fuel gauge only worked 1/4 the time, and now my 78 FWB's gauge says full at about half, then drops down really quickly from there. It's always a little scary when you drive 10 miles and the fuel gauge drops by 1/4" (analog gauge - 1978).

But I try to avoid letting it go any lower than 1/4 tank on the gauge, which would be 1/8 tank in reality.
My 84 SDV had a fuel gauge like that. It worked good until there was a half tank, then it would stay there until a quarter tank. And when the Low Fuel light came on, you need to get gas right away.
Refilling @ 1/4 tank is also a good idea to help avoid sediment and crap getting into the system.
Very true......

Another good thing to do...... NEVER fill up while the tanker is filling their tanks..... There's all sorts of crap that gets stirred during their fill up times.......
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