Tuesday, November 19

Gasoline: why my car's meter isn't reading correctly


Muchas veces, el indicador de gasolina sufre averías que pueden provocar malas lecturas  del nivel de combustible disponible en el tanque.
Many times, the fuel gauge suffers from malfunctions that can cause poor readings of the level of fuel available in the tank.

Photo: Erik Mclean / Pexels

Although today most manufacturers include digital fuel gauges in the dashboard of the car , the best known is the analog, composed of a needle that indicates the level in the tank at all times, whether the car is at rest or running. This meter is sensitive to movement, in that sense, when the gasoline is replenished in a service station you can see how the needle reaches the maximum level quickly.

Although very few drivers consider it, any failure in the components of this system will lead to an erroneous reading of the fuel level that, in addition to being dangerous for the engine, can lead to a nightmare: being stranded due to lack of gasoline .

According to Motor News, The most common faults of the fuel meter are the following :

1. In the case of analog meters, it is very common for the needle to get stuck in some position without being able to lower or go up. Being such a sensitive needle, the cause can be diverse: from particles that have braked it in a certain position, to problems with the fuel gauge, which is the part that sends the information to the dashboard, since it is arranged inside the pump that It is submerged in the tank.

2. Many times the needle tends to go up and down . This movement is natural if it occurs slowly, motivated by the position of the car while driving, but when the car is parked on flat ground and exhibits this fluctuation, it is very likely that there is a fault that may be being caused by a sensor.

Foto del indicador de combustible en un auto
Holes in the gas tank are often another cause of poor fuel efficiency in cars./ Photo: Gerd Altmann / Pixabay.

It is important to note that the position of the car can also give a wrong measurement , but that wrong reading doesn’t necessarily mean a problem. In this sense, it will be very natural that when parking a car on a very steep slope, the needle inside the fuel gauge will tend to go up or down, but it will return to its real position as soon as the car returns to a flat surface.

If it is a problem with the fuel gauge, it is best to consult a expert since this part is inside the pump that, in turn, it is submerged inside the tank that contains gasoline, a really flammable liquid that needs to be treated with all the safety measures .

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