[T2] fuel gauge unreliability

[Robert Mann]

	I was aware that my 40-y-old petrol gauge was not fully 
accurate.  In 7y of consistent performance, it has always slightly 
failed to show Full when the tank has just been filled to the visible 
top, and alleged Empty when I can go a further c.25 mi on 
econocruise.  Systematic skewing of readings like that is not a 
practical problem; no complaints (tho' I would like a Reserve tap).
	But last week I set out a half-h early to drive 30 mi to a 
rare lecture by a world leader in applied ecology, whom I had met 30 
y ago.  I'd been content to pay $10 to the host Ak Museum website, 
because I have admired this eminent scholar's thought for 4 decades 
(and sold c.800 of his textbook to my students over a dozen y).  My 
fuel gauge showed 1/4 and so I breezed on past a handy filling 
station, fixated on trying to beat the Rush Hour Creep over the 
harbour bridge and thru beautiful downtown Auckland.  The experience 
became dismal, frustrated as I arrived late, missing some of the 
lecture and unable to contact the visitors & the chmn to arrange to 
dine with them.

	A few mi along the motorway the engine quit in the manner of 
a fuel failure.  I could find no fault to explain this most unwelcome 
stoppage, and concluded the gauge had stuck at 1/4.
	A good friend chanced along within 5 min, so it was 
straightfwd to take the next exit and get soaked $19.99 for a 
10-litre plastic petrol bottle.  Serve me right for not having spare 
fuel on board.

	 I realise that many old bus-drivers know this full well 
(probably having made a mistake like the above); my aim in passing 
along this bitter shameful experience is to warn younger players that 
the fuel gauges in our middle-aged vehicles are not to be entirely 
trusted.  They can, for instance, suddenly quietly stick.


Conclusions:
	1.  Carry spare fuel in a suitable can ( some modern plastic 
'cans' are approved for petrol), clamped in a safe pozzie within the 
bus (check that cogent content <:-|}.  Top ideas for this 
positioning, for given-size cans, will doubless surge in.
	2.  Do not assume a decades-old fuel gauge will continue to 
perform consistently; it may stick, so do not put blind faith in its 
readings.  The same warning applies to any USA-model gages :-P 
designed to show gasoline content <:-|
	3.Continue or revive the habit established on pre-gauge 
vehicles e.g  typical motorcycles and of course Splitties: note the 
odometer reading at full, and keep track of distance travelled since. 
Use your previously-measured mpg to estimate by mental arithmetic how 
much fuel remains.
	4.  If you get too elderly to remember the 'full' odo 
reading, you should write it e.g  on a small cardboard list taped to 
your dash or otherwise handy to the driver.
	5.  If you have become gravely hooked on kompughtink, write 
or rip a program to do all this for you :-X



-- 
Robt Mann
Whangaparaoa, New Zealand
'73 VW 1600dp Devon camper
'53 Meteor V8
various Jawa-CZ and Jawa-NZ strokers