Non Linear gas guage, 2003 S-10 pickup

welcome to the world of el-cheapo tank senders

Dodge are similar:

full = full

3/4 on the gauge = about 2/3 1/2 on the gauge = about 1/4 1/4 on the gauge = you better find a station soon or plan on walking..........

Andy,

Every Chevy I've ever driven is like that. Nuthin' to worry about. The gauge on my old 88' C1500 is so wacky I just go by the trip meter to determine how much gas I have in the tank! I get 300 miles on the 1st half tank, then 150 on the next quarter, then 50 on the last quarter. ;-)

Doc

I think it is time for a dealership trip. Must be something wrong w/ the sending unit cause I have an 01 that works fine, and I have a 99 that does sorta the same thing except sometimes it'll jump around from full to empty. I'd say since its under warranty let them fix it for ya.

FWIW, the gauge on my 2000 S-10 is fairly accurate. There's obviously some safety margin built in, so you won't run out of gas as soon as it hits "E". However, at a computer-calculated (OHC computer) 13.6 MPG, my gauge just dropped past the 3/4 mark with 77 miles on the tank. Figure approx. 5.6 gallons used, so in an 18.5 Gal. tank, that's fairly accurate.

There IS a TSB on a fuel gauge issue, with a revised part number listed for the sender. Mention your problem next time you have the truck in for service (if it ever goes in) and see if they can diagnose the problem. That's what your warranty's for.

Oh yeah, my gauge jiggles around a bit when it's down to 1/4 tank left and I put the truck into reverse from drive. That's the only time the "Low Fuel" light comes on in my truck, I usually fill at 1/4-3/8 left...

"Doc" wrote: I get 300 miles on the

My 88 S-10 is almost like your's Doc. Though I only get about 300 miles on the whole tank. The first half goes a long way, the next quarter goes quick, and when I hit the top of the "E" line I still 2.5 gallons, though I don't like to run it that low obviously.

Big Chris

Ain't that the truth... my mom used to have a '88 250 van w/ a 318 in it... I once let it get down to "E" when I was in HS... I had like .6 gals left in the tank as it sputtered into the gas station. my dad's '88 C1500 w/ a 305 he had at the time had about 10 gals left in the tank when the gauge was on E. my '88 K2500 w/ a 350 in it gets about

200 miles from full to 3/4, 100 miles from 3/4 to 1/2 and about 100 miles from 1/2 to E. I've got about 6 gals to spare on mine.

-Bret

Except for my boss'!

FULL=FULL E=150 MILES more

After a warranty sender exchange... guess they never calibrated? 500 miles on a 37gal tank...

GMC Gremlin

Chevrolet may have finally fixed its erratic, non-linear gas gauges -- at least as far as the 2004 Silverado long bed is concerned.

My 1990 Scottsdale long bed suffered somewhat from erratic readings:

The gauge would stay on "full" for around 60 miles and than read somewhat-accurately until it got down to 1/4, where it would float between empty and 1/4 for a while. Then, it would read between 1/8 and below empty for the next 15 to 20 miles. With the gas tank at this level, the indicator needle would be all over the lower 1/4 range when braking and turning. But I never ran out of gas because I always filled the tank when the needle started to disappear behind the "E" on the gauge. The truck had a 34 gallon tank, but I never put in more than 31 gallons of gas.

Contrast this erratic behavior with that of my 2004 Silverado:

The fuel gauge is calibrated into 16ths and the needle is very stable, with no noticeable up and down wandering during hill climbing, turning or stopping. After a complete fill-up, the indicator needle indicates "full" for around 20 miles and then it begins a linear decent down to the empty side of the gauge. Stopping and turning seems to have no effect on the movement of the indicator needle.

When the gauge indicates "empty", I pump in around 30 to 30.5 gallons of gas. The only problem is that I'm not sure of the exact capacity of the gas tank, because GM has published two different specifications:

The 2004 Silverado owner's manual states on page 5-132 that the fuel tank capacity of the long box is 36.0 gallons, but GM's pickup literature gives a different capacity. While Chevrolet's "04 Silverado" catalog does not state the capacity of the fuel tank, GMC's "04 Sierra" catalog states under "Standard Technical Data" (the pages are not numbered) that the fuel tank capacity of the long bed is 34.0 gallons.

I always get the dealer brochures for both GMC and Chevrolet trucks because they provide a wealth of specifications which are not available in the owner's manual. I am not always inclined to believe what is stated in the owner's manual, because there were inaccuracies in my 1990 Chevrolet manual. For example, all of the tail light bulb specifications were for the 1989 twist-in bulbs, when in fact, the 1990 had push-in flashbulb types. Even the Helm manual had inaccuracies, for example, the

1990 service manual showed headlight diagrams for the 1988-89 dual-glass headlights, when the 1990 truck had a one piece design with replaceable bulbs.

In this particular instance, I am inclined to believe that the fuel tank capacity is actually 36 gallons, because, on a tank of this size, there seems to be the usual 4 gallon reserve when the gauge reads empty. This 4 gallon reserve is typical of what I experienced with my 1990 long bed and I have heard from others that they have had similar experiences with full-size GM long beds. This also ties in with my experience with the gas gauge on my 2004 Silverado. Therefore, I have tentatively concluded the following:

Each of the 1/16th-tank increments of the gas gauge represents 2 gallons, with the remaining 4 gallons held in reserve, and therefore, not counted. I also experimented with filling the tank when it read 1/2. Sure enough, the tank took 16.3 gallons. Now, with Northern California gas prices hovering around $2 per gallon, I find myself looking at the gas gauge and computing my fuel costs by counting the 1/16th increments down from the full side; $4 - $8 - $12 - $16 etc. When the gauge reads "Empty", I know that it will cost me another $65, and that is depressing.

Thanks everybody...I thought that I was being to fussy, but the Hondas in our family are dead on, I just cannot understand why Chevy cant get it right. It just frightens my wife into thinking she is runnning out of gas. She has a Honda, and it is pretty accurate Andy.

I've noticed that my 2004 Sierra is the first vehicle i've owned that has most truthful and accurate guage. The needle doesn't stay on full forever and then drop like a stone like most vehicles. I once read that this was done deliberatly because it made people feel like they were going further for the money (at least just after it was filled up). The Sierra doesn't stay on full very long at all (4.8L V8) and it is very linear all the way down.

I was thinking that the fuel level on the 2004 Sierra/Silverado may be determined by a new system which does not involve the use of a traditional float.

Whatever the design, I have had the same experience with the gas gauge being very accurate.

As far a gas gauge staying on full for an especially long time is concerned, this could very well be a manufacturer's smoke and mirrors trick. The customer has just spent a lot of money filling up the tank and now he will feel that he is really stretching his gas dollar, until the sting of filling up has worn off.

I have had 4 or 5 chevy trucks and they all did that...they stayed on full for 100 miles....the last 1/4 didn't meant only about 30 miles until empty...I have gotten used to it.