First service call

[wrumbarger]

Howdy all.

Tonight I had to call AAA for my smart.
(First time)

I was driving in I-66 (east bound) at 7:20PM.

My smart just stopped running.

Shifted to Neutral and tried to restart. NOTHING.

Coasted to the shoulder (emergency pull off)

Kept trying to restart. It turned over, but wouldn't start.

Gas Gauge read 1 bar remaining (no flashing reserve indicator).

Called AAA (lifetime plus member) to have the poor little thing taken to Tyson's smart center. (I work there)

When the flatbed got there (32 min, great service).
I asked the driver if he carried any spare gas. He had a 2.5 gallon can.
Put it in my smarts tank. Started right up?!?!?!?!?

Drove to the nearest station, put in another 7.2 gallons.
(Full 8.7 gallons for the math challenged).

So, evidently, I have an issue with my gas gauge?
I will have it checked tomorrow.

Anyone else ever have a "false positive" reading on the gas gauge?

[mdfortwoguy]

I don't particularly trust mine.

When I fill up until it clicks off (and I use the latch on the pump at 1/2 until it shuts off), my gauge goes to 7/8. About 20 miles down the road, mine will then revert back to full. About 70 miles later, it will go back to 7/8 and then 20 miles later go to 3/4.

I'm going to get it looked at sometime for the gauge, something rattling in the center console at idle, and the strangeness with my tranny going into limp mode the other night.

All small niggles though... still loving it.

[SuperGeek]

I've read here of a few people having a problem with the fuel sending unit reporting the wrong level. Usually it's within 2 bars of reality but who knows... with any car I never trust the gauge to be more accurate than quarter tank because if it's wrong due to the gauge, weather, or something bad in the gas itself, I'd rather not find out by coasting to the side of the road.

I think mine's accurate within one bar but not very precise within that. First bar disappears around 40miles sometimes, other times 80 miles. But both times when reserve showed 1.0 gallons I filled up with between 7.2 and 7.8 gallons.

[gstreetcomic]

I have not yet, but then again, you know my general rule of thumb on the gauge, the second it hits the last bar, i fill the tank anyway. If what you told me happens to me, i'll be in the center for a check up.

BTW the car still gives me a ton of fun.

[Kermit]

I started filling up at 300 miles whether the gas gauge says I need to or not.

My newer Smart has the gauge problem - I'm on the 5th fill now and it is having the same 7/8 full problem a lot of other people mention.

[PerryA]

Had a Toyota Rav 4 that never gave a full tank reading. I read on line that it was a common problem with the float or the sending unit. I knew the tank was full even if the gauge didn't.

If the lower end of the reading is incorrect or inconsistent, that needs to be corrected. It sounds like a problem that could be linked to a specific supplier or certain lots of parts. If Smart can identify bad sending units based on which vehicles are having problems, it can issue a selective recall and correct the problem for existing owners and change suppliers or otherwise fix the problem on the manufacturing end.

Either way, the problem needs to be corrected.

[saronian]

I've repeatedly run until the gauge enters reserve and says 0.6, haven't yet run out gas.

Now I'm feeling lucky...