Old vs new

[Stircrazy]

My Fuel Gauge has only registered 7/8's of a Tank for Months Now never goes to Full anymore. Monday the Pump kicked out Pumped another $1.60 in it still reads 7/8's of a Tank.

that's something I would take in and have fixed if your still under warranty, either your float is stuck or something is wrong with the conversion between there and the dash

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[Stircrazy]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but, when I fill up I set the nozzle on hands free so I can wipe the windshield and rear glass. If I'm standing near the fill door I can hear the gas rush up the tube and trip the handle, shutting off the flow. I have a habit (ocd) of rounding up the paid amount by .25, .50, .75 or .00. Usually only a few cents additional. I believe that once the nozzle is tripped, the gas will flow back towards the tank thereby allowing for the little additional gas I put in. The nozzle while I'm holding it never trips. Am I safe to assume that I'm not harming that filter?

Ok I have to ask, is your gas fill in the US different than the ones we have in Canada? we can't "top up" if you try it will add about 1 cents worth and click and we don't have a gas cap. is yours the same?

 

[Glamdring70]

Our pumps will let you "top off", but if the tank is full, they usually click right back off again. Topping off a tank is a bad idea precisely because it can damage the fuel system. It also can result in spills thereby wasting gas (or $). It's actually illegal to top off a gas tank here in Oregon. I don't know if we have tank cops out there or not. I've also only pumped gas maybe 5 times in the last several decades because we also didn't have self serve till recently. And if attended service is the same cost as self, I'm still going to let the gas guy pump it.

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

Do you mean when filling up it stops at 7/8's or it stays at 7/8 and never moves down? Unless you happen to be using the same pump the whole time (unlikely) any reason you haven't taken it to the dealer yet. That would drive me crazy.

When i Fill Up it only shows 7/8's of a Tank the Gauge moves and was down to a 1/2 Tank on Monday and like i said i Pumped another $1.60 or $1.40 in it after the Pump Kicked out. Other times i Stopped Pumping as Soon as the Pump Kicked or before it kicked Out doesn't matter only shows 7/8's of a Tank. I need to take it in for some Recalls and i'll have them look at it then. Maybe the end of the Month when where I work is closed for a Week. I hate spending my Days off Waiting at the Dealership. I might look into the Mobile Service but not sure if they would look at the Fuel Gauge om a Mobile Service Call. FWIW it just started doing this in the Past 4 months or so.

 

[Mark S.]

I just run it on the slowest auto setting. Less foaming, gives time to clear the windshield etc. once it clicks, thats it.

Plus, it's fun to watch all the people sitting in line behind you...waiting...

 

[Mark S.]

a float system and that's about as accurate as you can get and the reason it has been used farther back than the 60's

Capacitance systems are generally far more accurate than float-based systems. They are less affected by fuel sloshing around inside the tank, and can be calibrated more precisely. This is the kind of quantity measuring system you'll find in critical applications, like commercial aircraft fuel tanks.

I don't know for sure what kind of quantity measurement system Ford uses, but I would guess it's a float-type system, mainly because they are proven, and less expensive than capacitance-type systems.

Here's probably more than you ever wanted to know about fuel quantity measurement devices.

 

[Bill G]

Yup, I run the pump on the slowest setting (then, again, I rarely go below half a tank so not much gas to pump in). I do round up to the nearest nickel after it clicks off, but I figure at $5 per gallon that couple of pennies won’t overfill the tank.

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