My fuel guage (digital dash) reads full when I fill up the tank. Sometimes the fuel level seems to correctly drop as I burn some gas, other times it will read full for 100-120 miles. It never reads below 5-6 gallons. Is this an issue known issue? Is it the guage or the unit in the tank? Anyone know whats up?
Most likely it is the sending unit in the tank. Mine does the same thing and I just haven't had the time to replace it yet. HTH, Curt.
Sounds totally normal to me. These tanks are very hard to get totally full because of filler neck shape and air pocket bubble on top of the tank. It helps to have the car facing down hill a little and you have to nurse the gas pump for a while. The sedimate area is about three gallons that you will never be able to reach.
Phil - how did you figure this out? I always wondered why I can never fill my tank to it's rated capacity..
Jay I was a Buick dealership service manager for 30 years 1968-1998. It's been a problem since the body style came out in 1978. We got several customer conserns over it and also the fuel gauge fluctuation. When the tank is mounted to the body there is a forward down hill slope to it. The pick up is in the center and can't get to gas on the lower portion. If you look at the tank out of the body you can see the air pocket in the top center. This was done so the vapor recovery port would not grab liquid fuel. Last the curve in the filler neck is not very compatable with some gas pump nozzles.