Gasometer probs

[Lil Freek]

So my gas gauge seems to be messed up.
I drove about 30km (18miles) last night, and my car indicated that i went through 1/4 tank of gas... i was only going 'bout 120km/h (70miles) so it's not like i was revving at 6000..

it just dropped from 1/4 tank to a little above the "E" line.... now i know i don't have a leak anywhere as there's nothing in the driveway...
I was just wondering if anybody has had the same prob... it's not the first time the gas gauge seems messed up... it might be a faulty sensor or seomthing... but i don't really know how it works.

any ideas??

[customprotege]

I know mine drops pretty quick when I'm almost on E, but that's b/c your gas tank is smaller the lower the tank gets and the needle doesn't account for that.

[charles]

Ugh, mine will go between 1/4 and E all the time, depending on the slope of the road, the amount of acceleration, the amount of braking, and so on. That's normal and happens with most cars, maybe more so with the Protege.

Is that what you meant? I'm not sure. Fill up the car and if it doesn't go all the way to F then you probably have a problem with the sender or float.

[funkdaddysmack]

Also, some pumps can shut off earlier than others. I've had it happen to me a few times before.

Usually my gauge stays on/above full for 50-70miles. Before I've had a pump shut off and it filled JUST to the full line. If I didn't notice it, I would have thought I would get really crappy gas mileage.

I usually try and fill up at the same pump all the time. Helps reduce weird crap like that.

[jnorion]

Happened to me once, but I was parked on a hill, let it sit for a few minutes and I came back and it had dropped from just under a quarter tank to way below empty and the light had come on. After I turned the engine off on a level surface it worked again fine.

[Mark 02dx]

Mine seems to go down a lot faster on the bottom half of the gauge than on the top half. It takes forever to get to 1/2, and then drops like a stone. It also goes well above F when I fill up. I'd guess it's just not all that accurate; most of them aren't.