Gas gauge issue. - Page 2 - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

Bratetta · 03-10-2009, 11:17 AM

I've had this problem with my car for a while. But it is not consistent. The previous 2 fillups only showed 7/8ths full. On the other hand, yesterday when I filled him up again, it went all the way to full. I decided not to worry about it unless my mileage suffered meaning that it wasn't really filling up at all.

fpage77 · 03-10-2009, 11:19 AM

I want to know though what is up with do not fill sticker that's behind the gas cover. I saw some guy said if you fill your take completely you'll ruin some carbon something or other. It makes no sense the inlet for gas take is a tube like thing and that runs to tank and we are practically partially sitting on the take (half the seat is over tank) so I dont know what would be inside there that we could ruin if will fill the tank. I wonder if they mean by fill completely until gas is running out of the entrance to gas tank where we insert gas nozzle.

"The nozzle is calibrating." - Venture Brothers

**JPaul** · 03-10-2009, 12:02 PM

Because if gas gets into the "Y58" tank vent valve, it'll screw up the system...

Or whatever "over filling" may cause.

fpage77 · 03-10-2009, 12:16 PM

Ok so we shouldn't fill the car until the pump auto stops then????? How are we suppose to know if we filled our tanks then. I thought I saw a post where someone quoted the European manual as saying to pump until it auto stops then no more. I thought I've read other posts that said pump till then after auto stop wait 30 seconds then pump again till auto stops to account for bubbly gas. I asked the dealer on day I got the car and they said it was fine to pump it till the pump stopped automatically (this car is so complicated)

forestacademy · 03-10-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fpage77

Ok so we shouldn't fill the car until the pump auto stops then????? How are we suppose to know if we filled our tanks then. I thought I saw a post where someone quoted the European manual as saying to pump until it auto stops then no more. I thought I've read other posts that said pump till then after auto stop wait 30 seconds then pump again till auto stops to account for bubbly gas. I asked the dealer on day I got the car and they said it was fine to pump it till the pump stopped automatically (this car is so complicated)

Just do that. The foaming of the gas will make it shut off before it truly fills the neck. If you wait and add more then you may mess it up.

First click should be good

too smart one · 03-10-2009, 12:36 PM

I had my gas gauge recalibrated by smart and sadly the problem re apperared and then went away and then reappeared at subsequent fill ups/ I am living with it and figure about 35mpg and know that in addition to the 8 bar 8 gallons theere are about another 2 that can be added between tank and cap.

fpage77 · 03-10-2009, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by forestacademy

Just do that. The foaming of the gas will make it shut off before it truly fills the neck. If you wait and add more then you may mess it up.

First click should be good

Ok so say I'm at the station put in the nozzle let it auto pump when it stops and then not pump no more? I'm just confused because of the post that said wait 30 seconds for foam to go down then pump again till it stops to fill tank. I get what you say just do the one pump till auto stops. I hope I didn't mess up anything. I pumped 8 gallons last night and it auto offed itself and I left station and fuel level wasn't all the way up. I drove 1.3 miles since then and went back to station and pumped .69 gallons till auto stopped thinking it would top off but gauge still isn't showing as full.

fpage77 · 03-10-2009, 12:57 PM

Jpauls picture post shows a tube coming from the filler tube. I can see why you wouldn't want to overflow the tank as the gas would go up that small tubing and get into thatY58 if it's something that is sensative. I would think you would have to be stupid and really trying hard to over flow the tank till gas is shooting out filler tube before gas would go up that tubing and wet that thingie down.

**JPaul** · 03-10-2009, 01:01 PM

IMHO and experience, I just set the pump to its lowest holding position and stop filling when it clicks (auto shutoff). If it's just few cents short of a round figure, I will add the few ounces needed to round it up.
Some are suggesting to wait 30 seconds and restart to pump, again in its lowest holding position. And it seems to works for them.

What is to be avoided is to pump 'till the gas gurgles back and spills out. That's too much!

As for mileage, how many eighths of your gauge it shows is irrelevant. What counts are:
-total miles on a full tank
-how many gallons was required to have a full tank.
A full tank is when your pump filler stops (either first click, or second, or whatever, as long as you're consistent from fill-up to fill-up).
Do I make sense?

unicycle · 03-10-2009, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPaul

As for mileage, how many eighths of your gauge it shows is irrelevant. What counts are:
-total miles on a full tank
-how many gallons was required to have a full tank.
A full tank is when your pump filler stops (either first click, or second, or whatever, as long as you're consistent from fill-up to fill-up).
Do I make sense?

Yeah, that's exactly right. The problem some people are having, as you know, is that their tanks are clicking off (meaning that the tank is filled) even tho their gauges are only showing 7/8.

So for all of you people with the full=7/8 issue, don't despair. Just follow JPaul's advice and then take the car back to the dealer whenever it's convenient so that they can fix the error.