Gas Gauge Malfunction

[grzzlycanuck]

Originally Posted by johnssc

The notion of driving until the tank is reading "0.0" fascinates me. Why would you do this?

Personally, I always want to know what 0 actually means on my car. In my 4Runner, due to a defect I have about 60 miles to get gas after the gas light comes on. In my VW Vanagon, when you hit red on the gauge, I need to get gas mad quick.

One of these days I'll throw a 2 gallon can of gas in the car, and see where it runs out.

[ecoff]

Dale I have the same problem I'm going to my Dealer and have it check I'll see what they say. I hope it can be cleared by a laptop.

[MrVvrroomm]

I picked up my car earlier this week. The first thing I noticed when I hopped in to drive home was that the gas gauge was not reading full, only 7/8. I was kinda pissed, thinking the dealer was being cheap and not quite filling it.

I stopped 2 miles from the dealership and put exactly 1/2 gallon in, clicked off on its own. It was still reading only 7/8. I just chalked this up to a quirk and would start a list of smart "features".

When I got home my 15 year old daughter and her friend were waiting in the driveway. They were giggling at how cute it was. I did about 4 circles in my driveway, the girls laughing harder with each circle.

When I started the car up a little while later I had 8/8. I figured it must take a couple of circles to "burp" it. LOL

[jmartinsmart]

Huge anomalies in my guage...

First tank, I got over 100 miles before losing the first bar, now it drops after the first 35 miles (have run 7 or 8 tanks now).

This morning, I got in with 0.4 and ran the tank to 0.0 before I got to the fuel station where I put in 8.9 Gallons (I actually drove over 4 miles while on 0.0).

There seems to be no consitancy in this fuel guage.

Jim

[74AMX304V8]

I agree, another quality engineered innovation from the fine folks at smart! At least it beats having to put a wooden stick (with marked off increments) down the filler neck, like on the Ingersoll air compressor I use, although .....that system is accurate! :-)

[DFWehman]

Rare is the car that has a truely linear gas gauge. My BMW was close. They are all quite accurate a F and E. At F I don't worry, at E I do. Its a smart, not the space shuttle.

[alecadi]

Originally Posted by DFWehman

Rare is the car that has a truely linear gas gauge. My BMW was close. They are all quite accurate a F and E. At F I don't worry, at E I do. Its a smart, not the space shuttle.

Cannot agree more. Of all the car I have had in my life NONE had an exact gauge. And the mileage counters are not more precise either. They depend on a lot of factors. So there is no more no less gauge's problem with the smart than with other car. The point is that the smart drivers want to know exactly the mileage of their car as it is the main reason for buying it. Rely on the gas pump indication instead.

[smartBeemobile]

My gauge doesn't go down to empty, I had 415miles and filled 9 gallons and the gauge still showed 3 bars. It works off and on, now I have 315miles and it is showing 3 bars. I let the dealer know about it, but the dealership is 100 miles away and they want to keep the car to check it. So I am waiting to have it looked at until I need another oil change or inspection.

[Fredvon4]

My fuel gage has been wonky since day one...fortunatly the Tom Tom confirmed that I got one of the better accuracy Odometers

Some times I can drive a full 150 miles on 8/8 indication other times the danged thing will loose 2 segments before I leave the fuel station...go figure!

I suppose before the 24/24,000 is expended I will pester my dealer to replace the sending unit. Until then, I smugly manage to let the notion that it is only a $12K economy car carry me to the next re-fuel...Daring not to add the inaccuracy or even rational indication to my public list of ignorant "features"... OH well, I blew that though with this post....grin

Any inference that I think the engineers and designers are idiots are false...I truly know they did this just to ensure I got a cute quirky car that works exactly as designed....

[daleharrison]

Originally Posted by ecoff

Dale I have the same problem I'm going to my Dealer and have it check I'll see what they say. I hope it can be cleared by a laptop.

ECOFF- I wanted to give you an update about the gas gauge situation. Gauge is eratic about displaying "full' bars when the tank is full. And seems to use gas as it sits in the parking lot--Half full at shut down and 5 hours later without a restart the gauge shows one bar LESS than full. Got an appointment in Cary this Friday--They will try to fix with a software adjustment. Will let you know what happens. Dealership in Cary has been most helpful with this problem. Dale