Diggo123

Hi Guys,I am a regular when it comes to going through threads but not posts.I have an issue with my '97 E320.10 km or so after the orange light goes on on the fuel gauge the car goes off.That is to say the car has run out of fuel.My shallow understanding tells me that when the light goes on i still have some 7 litres or so in the tank.Can someone out there help or at least give me a better understanding?

Plutoe

You are absolutely correct---when the light comes on you have a given amount of fuel left in the tank---now if what you describe happens repeatedly thats one thing however if it happened once I would blame it on your son siphoning out gas for his car!!

A simple analogy is the story of the battery driven clock that is always running slow---and you say to yourself WTF it's gotta be ? o'clock because my watch indicates differently---how is that foooooken possible??----now put your thinking cap on and try and determine all the possibilities, one of them may be an aging battery!!

Now use that same type of thinking on your supposed fuel indicator issue---what do you think could be a possible cause---well maybe you have a faulty fuel level sensor!!

renault12ts

As above (sort of), although you should have 2 gallons left when the light comes on...you don't. So, now, when the light comes on...get some fuel.

nelbur

If the car has been sitting unused in the recent past it could be that old gas has caused varnish to form on the sender giving a false reading. Add one of the fuel system cleaners that mentions that it will clean fuel senders, with the next tank of gas.

Diggo123

nelbur,what you have mentioned about the car having been sitting for sometime in a sure thing.I will try to add in some kind of cleaner.Which one would you suggest?Thanks mate.

Diggo123

Another thing on the same issue.Somebody at the office tells me that my fuel tank might be tilted somehow to one end.Does that make a bit of sense.Is that enough suspicion for me to open up the trunk and check out the tank,not that i know how to go about it or what to be on the look out for.

nelbur

I forget which "fuel system cleaner" I used but I selected one that mentioned fuel senders in it's list of miracles. It worked well. Fill the tank to be sure the sender is in the treated fuel, as some senders can be half way up in the tank. You want the treated fuel to slosh around the sender for awhile.

renault12ts

No...not likely. In fact, I'd say, impossible.

Plutoe

Although typically I find it most difficult to agree with poster of reply number 8, the logic, thoughtfulness, technical prowess, thought process and his emphatic resolution to dispel myth and seek the truth----leads me to agree with him!!

I think that the answer to the mystery lies in "Occam's razor"

renault12ts