I just got my cars back from the shop from having it's power steering rack replaced. I noticed that it was low on gas and went to fill it up. I used 93 and filled it to about 3/4 of the tank. I drove around town to run a few more errands and I noticed that the gas seemed to the burning a lot quicker then usual but it didn't seem like a big deal. I parked the car over night and today as i was driving it it started to do some really weird stuff. the gas gauge and the gas computer just out of the blue dropped from a half tank to quarter tank. The computer display went from 150-160 miles left to 40 miles left with-in about 5-10 mins of driving. I was not driving fast or doing anything out of the ordinary just regular city driving. The car doesn't seem to be leaking all thought if it was i wouldn't really know where to look. I checked it out and i dont really smell any gas leaks either, once again i dont know if it was leaking if i could smell it either. Anyways does anyone have a clue as to where the gas is going? I was told that my air filter might need to be changed but that seems like a lot of gas to be burned in such a short amount of time for a bad air filter. Plus is just stared happening too. Any help is appreciate.

 

sounds like the sender unit in the gas tank to me,

its a swipe type resistance coil and if its only ever had quarter of a tank then that's the area that wears out ( and they do wear out ) so when you fill up and let it get down to the worn part it suddenly dropsvery common problem in the UK because of high fuel costs and theft

 

To me it sounds like a malfunction in the gauge or sender.

 

hey im having the same think happen to me but the question is , is the gas there and the sensor is not reading it or is the gas really burning that fast

 

a simple look see into the gas tank through where the pump is located ( internal tank fuel pump ) then you will see how much gas/fuel is in there and more often than not its the resistor wire/coil has worn away due to what I said previously

 

It sounds like the sensor is not reading the correct amount of gas in the tank. There is really nothing besides a heavy foot that will cause your car to consume fuel faster than usual.

 

that i found to be true . be cause there have been times when i have been on e then refuel and it willstill not regeiter on the gauge thenall of a sudden it will kick in.

 

see if the altenator or battery are on right or dying. turn the lights on and see if the dash or any lights fade or blink or the gauges act weird during the test. those machanics might have put a ground wire on wrong or not at all. bring it back to them and look for a short . insist that they did it !