How accurate is your fuel gauge?

[bpu699]

2000 Winnebago ultimate advantage, class A DP.

My gauge stays at "full" for the first 20 gallons of use, then slowly goes down...

At 2/3 full indicated on the gauge, I have used up 55 gallons of my 100 gallon tank, so about half full...

I usually fill up when the gauge says 1/2 full, and it takes about 60-65 gallons...

Oddly, I have driven it down to below 1/2 tank on the gauge, and at one point the diesel generator shut off... indicating I had 1/4 tank or less...

I know I get about 10mpg on flat land, so I fill up about every 500 miles...

[DarkSideJeep]

I often fill when the gauge reads between 3/4 and 1/2 full, I.E. 1/3 full and put around 50 gallons into the 150-gallon tank.

[Scepter40]

Mine's not accurate at all. And when I turn on my headlights, it goes to empty. I suspect I at a minimum a ground needing cleaned up.

I typically travel with folks who have a smaller tank and need to fill more often. In cases where we don't, I map out the total miles and make a choice as to how far I want to go to fuel up. I can count on 6mpg (hand calculated), so that's what I go off of.

Fuel sender and grounds are on the list.

[Dutch Star Don]

My Monaco gauge was adjustable and I could get it close to reading reasonably well.

On both my Dutch Stars, Freightliner chassis, there is a gauge that tells me how much fuel I've used. It's about 95% accurate.

With that said, I don't really worry how accurate the dial on the fuel gauge is. For all mileage calculations, I know my coach gets just a little under 7mpg in all driving situations. So.....I look at the mileage I've driven, divide by 7 and I know within a few gallons what I've used.

Looking at it the other way, I multiple my 7mpg times how low I like to run the tank which is usually 50 - 60 gallons, so I'm good for 350 - 450 miles.

[m0v1]

The gauge is accurate and linear, except for when it gets to empty there is still about 60-70 gallons left of 300. That is fine with me because the generator still runs at that point, so maybe it was just a design decision to not have the generator fuel pickup start pulling air at the 1/4 mark like many other rigs.

The DDEC fuel measurement is very accurate through Silverleaf, the detroit pro diver, and DDDL. The only problem is that those computer measurements do not take into account generator usage. I have been meaning to put a fuel flow meter on my genny just out of curiosity.

[Country Road]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

My Monaco gauge was adjustable and I could get it close to reading reasonably well.

On both my Dutch Stars, Freightliner chassis, there is a gauge that tells me how much fuel I've used. It's about 95% accurate.

With that said, I don't really worry how accurate the dial on the fuel gauge is. For all mileage calculations, I know my coach gets just a little under 7mpg in all driving situations. So.....I look at the mileage I've driven, divide by 7 and I know within a few gallons what I've used.

Looking at it the other way, I multiple my 7mpg times how low I like to run the tank which is usually 50 - 60 gallons, so I'm good for 350 - 450 miles.

Bingo.

One has to know his coach’s gauge and it’s parameters.

Next thing, our coaches are constantly using the same amount of fuel, generally speaking. Use your mileage as stated.

Or spend a grand and replace your gauge and sending unit.

[SafariBen]

My gauge appears accurate, but not precise or linear from what I can see so far. I'd like to test it's accuracy near empty, where I run out, and how much is left in the tank when it runs out. Now I've added a diesel gen and separate tank, so less risk of doing it on the road, but I'll probably chicken out and do it by running the fuel return to a third tank until it stumbles.



It seems lots of people think it's acceptable to have a tank where half the fuel is not usable. Truckers or automobiles would never accept that. Trucks have round tanks that run out with less than a gallon left, not 30 or 50. If RVers ran their tanks down to 5 gallons there would be a whole lot less algae and other fuel problems.

[Ray,IN]

My fuel gauge gets more accurate as it approaches empty, above ½ full it displays more than actual- like yours.
I always refuel at ½, a habit I learned when driving to Alaska.

[m0v1]

It's a good thing to test your reserve capacity at "empty". Knowing where does your generator run out is important too. I think on our tank the sender is linear until empty and there is a large reserve due to the shape of the tank. I think they designed it that way on purpose because the original intention of the vehicle was as a city to city transit coach. Can't be having them run out of fuel with 50+ passengers if the driver wants to the push the limits tank gauge. It has a big sump at the bottom where the pickups are located and the water drain that the sender would have no way to account for anyways.

[Av8ter150]

I have a Monaco with a Centroid sender so it works now and then. My tank has short fuel fills on both sides so I just dip the tank to verify fuel depth/quantity. I get 8.5 on a 130 gallon tank so I can do almost 1000 miles if needed. Then throw in a 70 gallon tank in the back of the toad (D Max pickup) and I can swing a safe 1500 miles. Maybe someday I'll fix that sender but it's really not very high on my list of to-do items.

[Skip426]

My gauge reads 1/4 tank high with the headlights on .
Redoing grounds on headlights and tank sender , was no help .

Daily travel 5/600 miles, I have gone once to low fuel light at 775 miles ; 84 gals to fill if memory serves ;( average around 8 MPG on 100 gal tank ) fill up in the morning before travel , always enough in the tank for generator use.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by bpu699

2000 Winnebago ultimate advantage, class A DP.

My gauge stays at "full" for the first 20 gallons of use, then slowly goes down...

At 2/3 full indicated on the gauge, I have used up 55 gallons of my 100 gallon tank, so about half full...

I usually fill up when the gauge says 1/2 full, and it takes about 60-65 gallons...

Oddly, I have driven it down to below 1/2 tank on the gauge, and at one point the diesel generator shut off... indicating I had 1/4 tank or less...

I know I get about 10mpg on flat land, so I fill up about every 500 miles...

Wow,
10 mpg on flat land!!! I couldn't get that if mine was dropped from a C-130 and free falling!!!!!!!!! As for my fuel gauge, it's actually fairly accurate. When I fill it, I click-stop-click-stop-click-stop-click stop until I see it right in the neck of the fill tube. That way, I get plenty of distance BEFORE the gauge starts to show movement. When my Trip-tek overlay on my monitor says around 50 gallons uses, I'm seeing my gauge almost right at half way. I'd say my gauge is fairly accurate. I've ran mine down to the "threshold" notification multiple times. The threshold notification on our coach is the 25 gallons left mark.

If I were to chance it or use all 25 gallons, at my whopping 6 mpg, that would put me another 150 miles beyond where the notification showed. And that's ONLY if I was on FLAT GROUND at 60 mph. I would never take that kind of risk. But, I fill it when it's applicable to our given situation. And that could be at 1/2 tank, 1/3 or even the threshold mark. Lots of variables here.
Scott

[bneumann]

How accurate is your fuel gauge?

It's probably NOT!

ANOTHER essential item that motorhome manufacturer should verify & definitely correct & not mislead & pass costs on to buyer later .... but usually do not.

Funny how one never sees manufacturer comments to common issues.

[bpu699]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Wow,
10 mpg on flat land!!! I couldn't get that if mine was dropped from a C-130 and free falling!!!!!!!!! As for my fuel gauge, it's actually fairly accurate. When I fill it, I click-stop-click-stop-click-stop-click stop until I see it right in the neck of the fill tube. That way, I get plenty of distance BEFORE the gauge starts to show movement. When my Trip-tek overlay on my monitor says around 50 gallons uses, I'm seeing my gauge almost right at half way. I'd say my gauge is fairly accurate. I've ran mine down to the "threshold" notification multiple times. The threshold notification on our coach is the 25 gallons left mark.

If I were to chance it or use all 25 gallons, at my whopping 6 mpg, that would put me another 150 miles beyond where the notification showed. And that's ONLY if I was on FLAT GROUND at 60 mph. I would never take that kind of risk. But, I fill it when it's applicable to our given situation. And that could be at 1/2 tank, 1/3 or even the threshold mark. Lots of variables here.
Scott

The MPG was a pleasant surprise. I get 6mpg going through inclines into Rushmore...

The coach weigh 24k pounds, so pretty light compared to some of the 50k pounds DP's...