'03 A4 1.8T 40K miles.

my wife filled her car last week because the needle was reading low and the car took about 14 gallons. the problem is, afterwards, the needla only read 1/2 tank and the remaining miles display was showing about 190 remaining after the fill up. so i scheduled a warranty service for this coming monday figuring that the sending unit was going bad. my dealer is about 2 hours away.

the thing is, the needle and remaining miles gradually crept up to a normal reading over the next few days and now appears to be reading normally. even appear to be dropping as we rack up miles on this tank. the question is should i drive 2 hours to have the dealer check it out and possibly have to pay if they don't find a problem? when the sending unit goes out is it just bad all of a sudden, or does it work intermittently? i've searched and couldn't find the info i was looking for.

thanks,
eric

 

how often do you fill the tank up?? or do you only put a few $$ in, this problem can be caused by that because the sender unit is a sweeping arm and it wears out but with the low miles on your car and the age I would say wiring or bad computer read out ( don't take those things for granted ) they are only a guide and not good at that

 

generally, the tank is run down to about 1/4 before refueling. i will need to refill before it goes in to the dealer, but i'd like to avoid a 4 hour round trip if possible. especially if the dealer can't find ant issues. can the dealer charge me if the tech doesn't find a problem?