Gas gauge > is this normal? (just got my Smart)

[sandiegoway]

hi,
i noticed that my gas gauge goes down UNLIKE any other gas guage out there -
it drops down in those "block" increments and does not go down - little by little.
is this normal?

[dbwill]

Yes! 10 character limit

[BHSpecialist]

Yeah that's completely normal. When you get down to your "reserve" tank you'll notice that your trip odometer will switch to a fuel guage, starting at 1.3 gallons, going down by tenths all the way down to 0.0. That way you don't have to do any guess work and you know exactly how much gas you have left, even though the primary guage only tells you by eighths. Hope that helps!

- Nathan

[limey]

I used to ride an Aprilia Caponord which had a similar Fuel guage, but with 9 segments, very Italian design. You never had 1/2 a tank of gas, it was either 5/9ths or 4/9ths.

[sandiegoway]

thanks for the replies!
guess i just need to get used to it (arghh!)

[Dave777]

Originally Posted by BHSpecialist

Yeah that's completely normal. When you get down to your "reserve" tank you'll notice that your trip odometer will switch to a fuel guage, starting at 1.3 gallons, going down by tenths all the way down to 0.0.

- Nathan

Actually, that's not quite right, but close.

Think of the 8 bars as a trend, rather than as a literal indication. Typically they disappear at varying rates that make no real sense. As you burn through your last bar the trip odometer will switch suddenly to a fuel gauge countdown, starting at 1.0 and going to 0.0. Depending on who you ask, when it reaches 0.0 your tank will either be empty, or have approximately 1.3 gallons of "reserve" remaining.

Most people fill up before 0.0, just to be sure.

[PerryA]

This is one of the reasons that put me over the top on a Scangauge II. I ordered one and I'll be watching other posts and reporting back on my own experience with it. I wasn't comfortable not knowing if I was close to the top of my seven bars or about to drop to six etc.

[Smart Enuf]

Originally Posted by sandiegoway

hi,
i noticed that my gas gauge goes down UNLIKE any other gas guage out there -
it drops down in those "block" increments and does not go down - little by little.
is this normal?

Might as well ask if anything on the smart is normal. Is the tranny normal? No, it's quirky but works well once you understand that it's not an automatic. Are the seats normal? No, the tilt adjustment is not where you'd expect it. You can go on and on. This car has one surprise after another. Just adds to the fun factor.

[mvaldes]

Originally Posted by PerryA

This is one of the reasons that put me over the top on a Scangauge II. I ordered one and I'll be watching other posts and reporting back on my own experience with it. I wasn't comfortable not knowing if I was close to the top of my seven bars or about to drop to six etc.

The Scanguage is great fun and has interesting info, but based on my experience, I wouldn't rely too much on the scanguage for remaining gas - you might get stranded. I've had to adjust mine up by as much as 78% to get to the reading of the actual amount of gas I put in the tank as compared to what the scanguage thought I put in. (When you choose "fillup" on the scanguage after you've done same, it tells you how much it thinks the tank took and you adjust it up or down to correspond to reality.) I've written their tech support for guidance but haven't heard back yet.

[SmartDigger]

Originally Posted by mvaldes

The Scanguage is great fun and has interesting info, but based on my experience, I wouldn't rely too much on the scanguage for remaining gas - you might get stranded. I've had to adjust mine up by as much as 78% to get to the reading of the actual amount of gas I put in the tank as compared to what the scanguage thought I put in. (When you choose "fillup" on the scanguage after you've done same, it tells you how much it thinks the tank took and you adjust it up or down to correspond to reality.) I've written their tech support for guidance but haven't heard back yet.

Mine is right on the $$$$$ Did you fill up and set the SG to filled up. Run a tank out and hit fill up for two more tanks. My manual said that would be needed to calibrate it. It also said never run the mileage to go below 50 due to pump diff. Mine reads to the 10th though.