Gas gauge changes too much.
 

I have a 97 z28 and my gas gauge fluctuates too much. I fileld it up full and it bounced to 3/4 on the way home and weas back to full when i got home. while driving, it will vary by up to a quarter of a tank and really worry me sometimes but it will bounce back eventually. Is there anyway i can fix this to make the gauge more accurate? I heard that you can lubricate the line but i don't know exactly how to do that.

btw, I just got my car and i believe that there is a mix of a few octanes of gas. I am gonna try to empty as much of the gas out as possible before i fill it back up with premium if that could be a problem.

Re: Gas gauge changes too much.
 

We have unbaffled tanks, unfortunately as far as I know you have to live with it. I know thirdgens had 1le tanks that were baffled so the gas didn't slosh around so much, but I don't know what options there are for 4th gens. The fluctuation isn't really an issue, but if you want to know how much gas you have just wait till you're moving at a constant speed or at a stop on a flat surface. The mixed octanes is not an issue to worry about. Don't run your tank dry in an effort to drain the gas out, because you can overheat and burnout your fuel pump doing so. Good luck.

Re: Gas gauge changes too much.
 

Lubricate the line? :confused: Unless you have figured out how to lubricate electrons, I don't know what you are going to lubricate. :) The gas gauge is electrically controlled.

Mixed octanes won't have any effect on the gauge level.

Since you are new to the car, here is what you can expect:

Typically when the gauge reads:
way past full=full tank
¾=about half full
½=about a quarter full
¼=a couple gallons
E=very little on most cars, can be really empty on some

Re: Gas gauge changes too much.
 

Be carefull when you get down to a quarter of a tank. These tanks have a strange shape and that last quarter tank is more likely half of that. Don't know about other 4th gen's, but when mine touches E, it means it, no reserve. :eek:

Re: Gas gauge changes too much.
 

If your gage does not return to some known value while driving on a level road at a steady speed then you could have a bad gage or sticking float. This can be a pain to trouble shoot. Get a good maintainance manual.