Problem with fuel guage

[Shopow]

Ok, I filled up about 33 litres today which right after starting the engine made the fuel guage read 3/4ths of the tank full. I drove for about 10 minutes and parked. Upon coming out later and starting my engine, I noticed after a short while the the fuel guage was only reading that I had exactly half a tank full. I found this unusual and was trying to think back, second guessing whether I had read the fuel guage as reading 3/4 earlier. Now, after a short drive later, I once again parked and upon starting the engine several hours later, the guage read 3/4 full again.

 

Is there any explanation for this? Has anyone else experienced this problem? The only explanation I have is that just before the guage read that I only had half a tank, I was parked on a hill that could be considered a little steep. However, I drove around on flat pavement for close to 20 minutes and it continued to read half full. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. I have an 07 LGT 5EAT.

 

Thanks in advance.

[f1anatic]

Have not heard of this problem before.

If the problem persists, I would first reset the ECU and then if that does not do the trick, take it to the dealer.

The problem may or may not be inside the fuel tank - but that is a place only for hard core folks to go to.

[SuperCleanLGT]

If you were parcked on a somewhat steep hill like you state, when you start the car the guage resets (1/2 tank). If you drive around it will read the same. Once on flat ground and you restart your car the guage will restart (3/4 tank).

[Shopow]

SuperCleanGT,

 

I did park on a hill. It wasn't a mountain, but it was steep enough that the car felt like it would roll back if I took my foot off the pedal while in Drive mode. I hope you are right and it is just the computer readjusting itself after an engine start. However, I do recall shortly after discovering that the fuel guage read only half full stopping the car and turning off the engine to make I sure I didn't do anything stupid like leave the fuel cap unfastened. I even did a walk around the car to check if I was leaking fuel, but found nothing. Upon starting the car a few minutes after it continued to read half a tank. It was only several hours later after I turned on the engine that it went back up to 3/4's of a tank.

[Scotty]

Park the car facing the other direction and see if it reads full.

[Shopow]

I called the service department at my local dealership and the technician told me that it was just a matter of the sensor taking time to adjust itself and that it shouldn't be a problem. He said that parking on a hill with the rear at the tail end of the slope was probably what caused it.

[SuperCleanLGT]

That sounds reasonable, but it is sad because (it's just me) I don't trust anything the dealerships tell me.

[Scruit]

My friend's 1982 Fiat Panda would register an extra quarter tank when he went around a corner too fast.

 

Newer cars have fuel guages that change slowly to prevent fuel slosh from faking out the needles. When you drove onto flat ground your car didn't as it's supposed to do - it didn't trust that the fuel level had changed so dramatically until it had been changed for a long time.