pamonster Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 Ok, my owners manual says that my tank is 15.9 gallons. But then the gauge gets to E and I fill it up it only fills 11.5 gallons. Is there still 4.4 gallons in there and it is just being safe telling me it's E. It has never gone all the eay past E, just right on it. Any ideas, this happen to anyone else? It's a 1996 legacy outback 115k miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 94 SVX LSi book tells me ~18 gallons... at E and I fill it I get 14 Gallons... I have gone ~40 miles beyond E to what looked "1/8" tank BELOW E and still could only put in 15.5 gallons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamonster Posted November 17, 2005 Author Share Posted November 17, 2005 Interesting, I guess I am going to have to throw a gas can in the back and go a while on E and see where I get. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrian Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 I don't think you'll need the gas can. I can't speak for the LSi, but all the Legacies and even the old EA82s have 15.9 gallon gas tanks, which is some even number of liters. The gas gauges are notoriously inaccurate. Mine's very accurate when it's full, but the idiot light (9L left, according to the spec sheet) doesn't come on until the needle is about to hit "E". I've gone a full pip below "E" and then only had to add about 14 gal to fill it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 Welcome to Subaru, pamonster! Subie gas gauges are a notorious weak point--lots of discussion on the board if you want to search. Might want to do what many of us do--reset your tripmeter at each fillup and, as you learn your car's parameters, you'll begin to know when you should start to worry! Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 The thing that seems to work like clockwork is the gas light. JUst drive till it comes on then fil it up. the light works off a switch and not the pointiometer (sp) in the tank. My Gauge is e at 10 gallons, but when the light comes on it has 2 gallons left, so i go by the light, unless on a long trip. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamonster Posted November 17, 2005 Author Share Posted November 17, 2005 Awesome, than you all. I ahve been watching how many miles I have gone per tank, but I've only had to fill up 3 times since I got it. I'm going to wait for the light this time. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctoth Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 Subaru sending units are terrible, I've seen them up to 1/4 tank off. But the light does seen to work well. My 04 impreza has been right on so far though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogsubie Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 I hope this isn't hijacking the thread, because it is related to this issue. I have a 94 Legacy L and I know the gauge is off. Most advise waiting for the gas light to come on in order to fill up. Others have comented on their gas light not working. How do I know if my gas light works. I have not seen it light up when all the other lights come on during startup nor have I tested it by running my gas that low....is it supposed to? Is there a way to test the light? I usually will fill up when the gauge is on E and I've driven about 30-40 miles past. I get too nervous after that and just have to stop and fill up. I drive about 80 miles roundtrip to school and it all backroads with little to nothing but farm houses in between. I'm a little paranoid of running out of gas out there, not for fear of anything, just for the fact of walking to get help and being late for work or school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickensheets Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 I would carry a 2 gal. gas can if in doubt about the light. I'm sure there is a way to test the lamp but you'll spend tons of time looking for the correct circuit to jump. I would just use the can. rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 I hope this isn't hijacking the thread, because it is related to this issue. I have a 94 Legacy L and I know the gauge is off. Most advise waiting for the gas light to come on in order to fill up. Others have comented on their gas light not working. How do I know if my gas light works. I have not seen it light up when all the other lights come on during startup nor have I tested it by running my gas that low....is it supposed to? Is there a way to test the light? I usually will fill up when the gauge is on E and I've driven about 30-40 miles past. I get too nervous after that and just have to stop and fill up. I drive about 80 miles roundtrip to school and it all backroads with little to nothing but farm houses in between. I'm a little paranoid of running out of gas out there, not for fear of anything, just for the fact of walking to get help and being late for work or school. only one way to find out .. grab a gas can and take a drive nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogsubie Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 That's kind of what I figured. Is there a way to carry gas safely though? I just didn't know if the it was supposed to light up with all the other indicator lights on startup. Thanks for the tips. I guess I'll have to live with the anxiety. BTW, what kind of mileage do you guys get with a 50/50 mix of city and highway driving. I've gotten about 320 to 340, but on fill up I was only able to put in like 13 or 14 gallons. At that point I was on E for atleast 30 miles, but the light hadn't come on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subie94 Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 i found out that one of my sending units was acting up(when i first picked up the car) guage was working fine then (boom).dropped to e,then about acouple miles down the road,guage comes back up.found out that the contact strip on unit had a dead spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 The fuel tanks are split in two equal parts. Each 1/2 has its own sending unit. The fuel pump is on the passenger side of the car. The tank empties driver side first via siphoning, then the passenger side. A common problem is that the fuel sender, which is an open rheostat (best way to describe it) gest gummed up. The fule laamp swithc is a stand alone level switch that is always at a fixed level (yes ive analyzed this and taken it apart and STILL can't get mne to work right ). The senders are easily accessable under the floor. I suspect the passenger side one goes bad, dont know why. Since i cant drive far im not bothering with it right now. In the city i get 19-22 mpg, havent been on the highway yet for a long enough run to see what i get. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOMAD327 Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 The sending units are pretty easy to remove, and can be restored to accuracy for a while at least, by cleaning the wiper area with a pencil eraser. There is a sender on each side but the pump and low fuel light probe are on the passenger side only. The light circuit is completely independent and does not seem to vary with time. This has been discussed quite a bit, as has been stated. If you want to avoid carrying fuel to test the operation of the light, you can sneak up on your tank capacity by observing how many gallons to fill up versus miles on the trip odometer. Just compare how much you can get in to how much the tank holds and go a little farther each time, there should be close to two gallons left when the light comes on and for most people 250 to 300 miles on the trip odometer. One catch with this is that my car at least, when filling will click off at some pumps utterly topped off, and at other pumps, will accept a gallon or more after it clicks off. You only need to carry a gallon in a lawnmower can and don't have to carry it until you are close to empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e4620 Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 My old '90 Leg had a bad fuel gauge for a few years actually, would always show up as empty. I finally decided to take a crack at it so I pulled it out, which is quite simple. What I found was the little ceramic board with the potentiometer contacts on it had worn off completely, this happened on both units. Simple trip to a junkyard and I replaced the boards, but the E light still worked, it was on its own system. For anyone who is concernd about a bad gauge, just run to a yard and spend a few bucks on the parts. You can either 'carefully!' solder the new board in, or just replace the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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