[s-cars] 470 miles on one tank of gas!

[pkrasusky at ups.com]

I get the opposite - computer says 0 miles to empty and I fill up and
there's still like 1-2 gallons in there.  That's near 30 whole miles I
could have continued 8-)...
 
For the record, I *was* ON THE WAY to the station when I ran out, just
didn't make it.  D'oh.
 
And, being the slime I am - I pleaded NG to my "failure to maintain
proper lane" (watched me goose 100+ into HOV lane dotted section then
back over but no measurement), and got it down to $70.  Now just waiting
on my date to fight my HOV lane in my rental car few weeks back (don't
ask) - yeah the one where I had issue with the smug pig and told him
"just b/c they gave the short guy the purple Camaro (serious) doesn't
give you the right to be a jerk about it" (he was).  We had it out
roadside for about 15 minutes over that one - in 99 degree noon sun so I
kept dragging it out.  Of course I was sure to point out I was nice and
comfy in my a/c car whilst he was 'working'.
 
Can't make this stuff up...
 
Issues.
 


  _____  

	From: Taka Mizutani [mailto:t44tqtro at gmail.com] 
	Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 8:53 AM
	To: Krasusky Paul (WQQ2PXK)
	Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
	Subject: Re: [s-cars] 470 miles on one tank of gas!
	
	
	You probably have one of those super convoluted tanks that car
manufacturers like to use, which cause all sorts of problems.
	
	My Mom's Beetle ran fine for years, then all of a sudden,
started to read high- stalled out rolling into a gas station with the
low fuel light coming on maybe 30 seconds earlier, then running out of
gas about 1/4 mile from home- very lucky on both counts. Tank sender
replaced and now it reads really low- drive 75 miles and it reads 1/2
tank. Can't get even halfway decent linearity to the gauge, it's really
annoying. 
	
	I know A6s have a triple-sender system that caused all sorts of
problems, a TSB or two and at least three different iterations of sender
to try and fix the issue- I think the real issue is that the tank is so
convoluted that the fuel pickup can't reliably pick up all the fuel in
the tank. I would have thought the much larger A8 wouldn't have as much
an issue considering that there is a lot more space to put a fuel tank
in that car. 
	
	Be thankful that you have a 23 gallon tank! The Volvo only has
something like 15-16 useful gallons, then the car complains that it's
low on gas and I don't want to chance running out. I've gotten 19
gallons in there with the fuel light on and the car saying 30 miles to
empty, so it must be about 19.5 gallons. With the dismal mileage I get,
I need a 30 gallon tank. Still not as bad as putting $100 of regular
into the Suburban at work with the gas gauge reading 1/4. :-O
	
	I hear you on the getting low on gas and getting pulled over- I
did that recently, low on gas and distracted because I was trying to
figure out where to get gas, then crest a hill and get nailed by laser
by NJSP. Not good at all. That was about a $325 fill up. And Volvo
wagons are supposed to be low key! Red Miata gets ignored, but grey
Volvo gets nailed? WTF?