Gas Gauge Malfunction

[expfinn]

About to hit 3k miles on my Rubicon. This past weekend I was out wheeling in Sedona and experienced my first issue with the JT. Was on a trail and my gas tank went from 1/4 to empty in a matter of seconds. Empty fuel light on and all. Thankfully I did not run out of gas. The gas level slowly increased back to a 1/4 tank by the time I got to the gas station.

Anyone experience this before? It’s working fine now but did make me nervous thinking I might run out of gas on the trail.

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[Marx]

I had a similar issue with my temperature gauge while on the freeway this weekend. It suddenly went to max temp and hot with a red screen, I let off the gas and it went back to the middle of the gauge within seconds.

 

[lookitsadam]

Were you, or had you just been, on a steep angle when the gas gauge went off like that?

 

[MACulberson]

I had it happen, but I was parked on a steep angle.

But I was always taught to only trust the fuel gauge twice. First when it says full and you’re pulling away from the station. Second when it says empty and you’re starting to walk. Other than that, furl gauges lie more than politicians.

 

[Onebigyoshi]

Happens to me every time I get the low fuel icon. And then when I'm at an incline I see the gauge going up slowly. I think that's normal. Now what's weird to me is every time I fill up when my gas gauge reads 0 miles left, I can only fill up to like 18 gallons of gas. Don't we have a 22 gallon fuel tank?

 

[smlobx]

Speaking of fuel gauges etc.
I was coming back from the beach (~400 miles away) and decided to see if I could make it home after my last fill up (not the full 400 miles). When I was close to home the low fuel light came on and by the time I made it to the gas station it was reading that I had 26 miles of fuel remaining.

I filled it up to the top and it only took17.6 gallons ...no where near the reported 22 gallons. I know most manufacturers factor in a few gallons as a safety factor but over 4 gallons???

Btw got 19.6 mpg!

 

[Pion]

I generally have it say it is near empty (warning light, 30 miles or less left for range) and the fill up is like 17.5 gallons. It has a 22 gallon tank. I guess that's one way to not run it down, but it seems like it should go down to about 1 gallon or so, not 5.

 

[expfinn]

Were you, or had you just been, on a steep angle when the gas gauge went off like that?

Yes. In a spot I’ve been in other vehicles many times before. Never had the same reaction.

 

[Onebigyoshi]

Don't want to start any conspiracy theories but do we really have a 22 gallon tank? Has anyone tested if there is even a way to test it?

 

[lookitsadam]

On the JL forum it was confirmed and tested that the low gas gauge comes on with about 4 gallons left, and at 0miles to empty you usually have around 2 gallons left in the tank. A lot of manufacturers do this is to "idiot proof" cars. There's some people who refuse to fill up until their car says it's at absolute zero, except running at zero is terrible for your car. I'll try to find the JL forum thread on it but it turned in to a large debate

 

[Hootbro]

Don't want to start any conspiracy theories but do we really have a 22 gallon tank? Has anyone tested if there is even a way to test it?

Seems like these same threads on stated fuel capacity and doubters of that capacity pop up on every vehicle forum regardless of make or brand. For whatever reason, some people seem to think stated capacity should also be full usable capacity but that never is the case.

Fuel level indication and actual fuel level are padded to keep most users from ruining the fuel pump and/or leaving themselves stranded inadvertently for running out of fuel.

 

[Rex3rd]

On the JL forum it was confirmed and tested that the low gas gauge comes on with about 4 gallons left, and at 0miles to empty you usually have around 2 gallons left in the tank. A lot of manufacturers do this is to "idiot proof" cars. There's some people who refuse to fill up until their car says it's at absolute zero, except running at zero is terrible for your car. I'll try to find the JL forum thread on it but it turned in to a large debate

Running at zero is a good way to overheat the fuel pump and burn it out

 

[Onebigyoshi]

On the JL forum it was confirmed and tested that the low gas gauge comes on with about 4 gallons left, and at 0miles to empty you usually have around 2 gallons left in the tank. A lot of manufacturers do this is to "idiot proof" cars. There's some people who refuse to fill up until their car says it's at absolute zero, except running at zero is terrible for your car. I'll try to find the JL forum thread on it but it turned in to a large debate

I'm glad to hear that and if you do find the post do share! Thanks for your input. I feel better knowing that I still have little extra miles to go even if the gauge reads 0. The JT doesn't get the greatest MPG so the longer I can delay going to the gas station the better.

 

[Onebigyoshi]

Running at zero is a good way to overheat the fuel pump and burn it out

When you say zero do you mean when the computer fuel gauge reads zero or there's zero gas in the tank?

 

[Mr._Bill]

I started driving in the late 70's. I grew up in a rural area. I was taught to always run off the top of the tank, to fill up whenever it gets down to half full. I've run my Gladiator down to showing only 1/8 full, but I knew I could make my destination and didn't want to stop. Even then, it only took 18 gallons to fill the tank up.

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