fuel gauge shenanigans

[mryaris]

This has happened twice to me know.....the latest last night. I filled up my car yesterday afternoon then made a trip into Denver (~55 miles round trip) then took off to drive to southeast Denver later that night to play poker. The first bar blinked off at 81.8 miles and I got to my destination around the 90 mile mark. We finished up the game around 12:30am and I gave a friend a ride home. We get to his place and I stop and keep the car idling for a few minutes and the first bar reappears! It was around mile 91.3 and it stayed lit until mile 97.4 when it went out again.

Weird stuff. Has anyone else had a bar reappear before??

[Betrivent]

Yes, but only at very close to the threshold.

[TEHxFALLEN V1.2]

The fuel sensor might me loose. Happened to me before.

[R2D2]

Were you by chance on a hill while idling when the bar reappeared?

[Kal-El]

It's never happened to me and in away that surprises me. I'd actually expect it too happen all the time near the bar thresholds with gas sloshing around in the tank.

[CTScott]

The fuel gauge reads an analog signal from the fuel sender. The sender is fed raw battery voltage, rather than a regulated voltage, so the fuel gauge can change a bar just with fluctuations in battery voltage.

[mryaris]

The driveway did have a slight inclination, so it's possible that the fuel migrated to one end of the tank and the sender picked it up as additional fuel. It's just strange that it took so long to turn off again. All-in-all it's not a big deal....just one of those things that makes you scratch you head.