gas gauge says E but only takes 9-10 gallons to fill up

95 legacy wagon L 2.2 auto.

when my gauge hits E and i fill up it only takes less than 10 gallons to top off.

As far as i know the tank is 15.6 gallons.

I pullled both sending units out and its obv by the wear mark that they are not going all the way down. so why does my gauge say E. and i checked the units when it was on E and there is definently at least 4 gallons in there.

 

any advise.

I have this same problem sometimes lol. I have a 96 L 2.2 Auto. Sometimes the gauge will read UNDER E and my gas light won't come on. I am curious as well.

Same here. There is DIY somewhere on the internet of how to clean the sticky sensor thingy lol

I have figured out that when my car is like 1 tick mark above the empty line there are 4 gallons left in the tank. My low fuel light works selectivly also. I have driven my car to where the indicator is almost resting on that little black tack. When I was there I had .4 gallons left in my tank.

I was always stressed out about running out of gas I did not know the size of my tank, 10 to 11 gallons was all it would take, now I know that at empty I have 5 to 6 gallons to go.

i cleaned the sending unit strip. didnt do me any good. and its obvios that the sending is not the problem. because the wear marks on the sender dont even touch the bottom of the slide it stops about good solid 3 inches of movement in the float from bottoming out.

im just gonna carry a 5 gallon thing of gas with me this trip and find out how many miles i can go.

the car has been sitting for 10 months. it had a quarter tank when i got it. i ran that out. put 92 in it and abottle of techron fuel cleaner and am on my second tank of 92 and im averaging 20 mpg still

well i drove it till the gauge bottomed out on the needle stop and it still only took 12 gallons to fill up.

Could be the evap emisisons control. There's a cannister that on a 15 year old car may need to be replaced. Gasoline vapor in the tank builds up and creates back pressure to make the pump think the tank is full.

gas tanks hold 16 gallons i believe

this happens with my car. i just drive and drive and the needle goes as low as it can, and i just keep driving. then my light finally comes on and i got even more left. its weird. ill put 10 bucks in it and it still sits below E

15.9 to be exact

gas tanks hold 16 gallons i believe

Haha I was going to say that!

I hate you two.

Yeah my 98 GT does it too, only took 10 gallons to fill it up on dead E. Oh well now I know not to freak out if my gauge is on empty.

I have never seen my gas light come on. I am below E when I have used ~10.5 gallons, makes me nervous to go any lower than that even though I know it's there.

i had the same issue.. cleaned it with denatured alcohol and haven't since

99 man outback mine has done this alot

yeah my light has never come out. the most I've ever filled my tank is 10 gallons, and the needle will sit on E for 30 or 40 miles too before I go and fill. It's the weirdest thing...that's more than a third of my tank still left that isn't getting read. I tried cleaning the sensor, and it's not the issue. There's something else up in the system. I would try the evap canister, but my car is 100+ miles away

these sending units are known to go bad. and as stated above the tanks hold 15.9 gals. and, here's the important part, there are 2 sending units, one for each side of the tank. (access panels under the carpet in the trunk close to the rear seat.) so even if you clean one sender the other may be bad as well.

 

techron makes a fuel system additive which has proven successful for some, with limited results. pour it into the tank when you fill up.

 

i would be interested to know if cleaning with denatured alcohol help.

 

tips:

 

figure out your gas mileage, miles driven divide by gals used.

reset your trip meter every time you fill up.

multiply your mpg by 15 gals. this is how far you can drive on a tank and you will still have a 0.9 gal surplus. (city will be different than hiway.)

multiply your mpg by 14.2, this is how far you can drive until your "light" comes on, unless yours is broken. mine usually comes on at 14.2 gals used, sometimes sooner, 14.0 or 14.1.

 

now that you know how far a tank will take you, you can drive with confidence and fill up when it suits you.

 

i still would like a simple fix for the bad senders.

well i drove 275 miles before my fuel light came on and when i filled up at 280 it only took 13.6 so i think im just gonna start driving 300 on each tank that should leave me around a gallon left

still is annoying though. my gauge doesnt go crazy but it just goes fast. i havent even driven 100 miles and it shows half tank right now.

Wow, I usually hit half tank at 175 miles.

I've run techron through my system hoping for some good results, but nothing except a reduction in injector clatter happened. I'm surprised the denatured alcohol worked...I'll have to try that when I pull apart my fuel pump next time.

I also have this problem but I always set my trip meter after I fill up. My light goes on E when I've only driven 200 miles.

I also have this problem but I always set my trip meter after I fill up. My light goes on E when I've only driven 200 miles.

 

same thing, then i fill up around 210 215 ish miles, an fill up 10-13 gallons. depending on how calm i was driving, and whether or not the insane miles for work were on the highway or city traffic. But then again the shitty mileage could be thanks to the fuel filler neck rusting out and slowly leaking gas out of my car.

this happens with my car. i just drive and drive and the needle goes as low as it can, and i just keep driving. then my light finally comes on and i got even more left. its weird. ill put 10 bucks in it and it still sits below E

 

sounds like me, I just put in 17$ in my tank, sends it right above a quarter, than put 30, gets me to the top and more, really weird and frustrating