How does an automobile gas guage work? Does it display the amount of gas evenly as it moves?

Answer 1

The fuel gauge is not designed to be a exact instrument, it is a guide. Due to the designs of the fuel tanks (the shape needed to fit) and the fact the the gauge is a simple float unit, it is not going to be exact. Each car is slightly different, but on most of them "E" does not mean enough!!!

A more accurate gauge could be developed, but there is no great demand for one, and the cost would not be worth it!!

Answer 2

No a full tank of gas as (registered on the Gage) is not twice what a half tank of gas is as registered on the Gage (usually). In other words if you fill your tank and drive 175 miles and the Gage reads halfway. You would suppose that you still had 175 miles of gas left in the tank; NOT SO. Suppose the shape of the tank on the bottom included an indentation and the top half of the tank didn't. Then the bottom half of the tank would hold less gas, right? The float doesn't know this. It reaches the halfway mark in the tank and tells the Gage you have half a tank left, that's all. The float isn't aware that the tank is shaped differently on the bottom and thus holds less gas then the top half. The Gage only gives a general idea of the actual gas left in the tank. But the important thing is, when the tank is about to go dry, the Gage lets you know. Even though there is always some gas left in the tank when the float has reached the bottom of its travel.

Answer 3

you need to have the sending unit checked out or you could have a problem with the Gage cluster both are not cheep. the sending unit will run you around 500 to have fixed this is because the sending unit is a part of the fuel pump so they have to replaced as a module they need to drop the gas tank and remove the sending unit from the top of the tank. As for the Gage cluster it may run you (not shore) maybe 100 or more for Gage cluster. But it sounds to me like the Gage cluster because if the sending unit was bad than the fuel Gage would be way over the full mark all the time. people sell old cars for a reason that's why you should always have it checked out by a mechanic or some one who is experienced with cars.

Answer 4

There is a float in the gas tank connected to a lever. On the lever is a variable resistor. The gas gauge gets its reading from the resistor. While the float is close to the center of the tank, many gas tanks have funny shapes and the level of gasoline does not match the actual amount very well. The gauge doesn't do a very good job of measuring the number of gallons in the tank; it's mostly to give you an idea of how soon you need to fill up.

Answer 5

Older cars have a mechanical sensor inside the gas tank that floats on the surface of the gas and transmits its position to the gas gauge in the dashboard. The mechanical sensor isn't always accurate because it bounces around as the car moves. Newer cars use an electronic sensor which is mounted in the gas tank itself.

Answer 6

There is a float meter in the tank, calibrated to the guage. Sometimes the calibration is not very good, so the car seems to have a full/nearly full tank forever, then all of a sudden you are down to half a tank. Unless you want to pay for the expense of dropping the tank from the car and replacing the guage, it's not worth fixing.

Answer 7

It has a float in the tank that's attached and it moves with the fuel, so it tells you an accurate reading. The only time it might be a tiny bit off is when you're going up or down hill. That's depending where the float is positioned.

Answer 8

IT TELLS U HOW MUCH LIQUID IS IN THE TANK THATS ALL U NEED TO KNOW