On my C280, I have noticed that the first 1/2 of the gas tank reading (from 1/1 - 1/2) is only 7 gallons, while the 2nd 1/2 of the gas tank (from 1/2 - 0) is 9 gallons. Does anyone else's read like this? I know that my car is prone to a faulty fuel level sender... but maybe it's supposed to be like this!?

Thanks.

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2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)

...

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)

Mine does the same thing.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

I have never seen a linear fuel guage. Ever ever.

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I got too many cars!! Insurance eats me alive. Dave

78 Corvette Stingray - 3k
82 242 Turbo Volvo - Manual - 270k
86 300e 5 speed manual - 210k
87 420sel - 240k
89 560sl - 78k
91 420sel - 205k
91 560sel - 85k
94 GMC Suburban - 90k
97 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail - 25k
00 GMC Silverado 1 ton 30k

David,

Your problem is that your fuel guage is obviously not broken-in yet. A properly broken-in MB fuel guage, and anyone else correct me if I'm wrong, will read accurately from 1/1 through about 1/2. After the actual fuel level goes below 1/2 it will do one of the following:

a) erratically jump all over the lower half of the guage;

b) stay at about 1/4 until the car runs the tank dry and you stop;

c) bounce back and forth between two distinct level readouts, causing you to wonder, "Which one of you is it!!";

d) any amusing combination of the above three.

You probably have another year or two before you see proper level indication. Enjoy the time you have until then.

tongue only partially in cheek,

someguyfromMaryland

Well said!

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

Neither have I.

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... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

Prior to my c280, which had to have the fuel sensors changed because of the erratic, dancing fuel gauge, I had a Jetta which, on my trip routine, hit the 1/4 tank at 100, 1/2 at 200, 3/4 at 300 and presumably would have hit 400 at empty. It was a nice thing to have and it was probably due to a number of circumstances (my particular combination of fwy/street driving, AND somehow having a very linear gauge), it makes you wonder why that technology hasn't improved. After all, they have the technology to determine how many seconds of fuel is left to burn in jets and rockets (i realize the difference in $$, but still) why can't a basic, important gauge be improved upon??? Who cares how "clear and readable the gauge layout is" if the information is crappy and unreliable? We're in the 21st century and we're still guesstimating how much gas is in our tanks, if we're not getting dizzy first with the dancing gauge on our cutting edge, "luxury" cars. And so, yes, I have seen a linear gauge, but no little green men, yet.

Usually this is the result of the fuel gauge being linear, but the tank being non-symmetrical.

So, the vertical measurement says that you're at the 1/2 way point, but the lower half of the tank actually holds more than the top half (when you look at it from a vertical measurement perspective).

__________________
D.H.

04 ML500
02 E430

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

I recently posted a thread on this topic with a response I received from VDO regarding fuel gauges on MBs. I'm convinced they have an inherent fault.

It's one thing, as Dennis mentioned, to have an asymmetrical tank which produces a non-linear reading past the 1/2 mark as the tank's shape and volume changes. That's all good and fine as long as the gauge is working properly.

The main problems with Mercedes is that the gauge seems to have a demented mind of its own past the 1/2 mark, as someguyfromMaryland put so well.

VDO of course denied any defect in their gauges.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

hearing all your comments, my fuel gauge doesn't seem to be a Mercedes gauge!! mine is a 85 190E 2.3 with 126K miles - the fuel gauge is rock steady all the way till empty. It may not be perfectly linear, but is remarkably consistent. Over the years, now I know EXACTLY how much fuel the tank will take depending on where the needle is (+ or - quarter gallon). On a 14.5 gallon tank, at 3/4 the tank has 10 left, at 1/2 it has 7 left, at 1/4 it has 4 left (so its not exactly linear), at the red light it has a little over 1.5 gallons left. The amount I fill up is remarkably consistent with where the needle is!

Now that I have said this, wait till my gauge starts dancing all over the place starting tomorrow!!!!!

when German cars (and some others) came with guages on the dash which were marked in such a way as to reflect the logarithmic nature of the changes in the electrical current produced by the sending unit as the float lowers? My '60 Porsche 356 roadster and '66 911, and the Mercs of the same era, had the guage marked with the 1/2 mark way over towards the full side, to reflect the fact that the guage would fall faster through the second half of the tank because of the signal it was getting. In fact, I was really surprised when I noticed that the '85 300TD I recently acquired had the 1/2 mark only slightly to the right of the center. It goes against Nature -- or rather, electricity's nature.

Those older cars had the float swinging on a pivot -- with obvious geometric effects on the way one inch of lowering changes the effect on the sender signal at different levels; a lot of the newer ones with linear markings on the gauges have the float sliding straight up and down a shaft. As I remember, most older Ford cars with pivoting sender floats had the same pattern of the guage dropping faster after the mid-level readings.

Someguyfrommaryland couldn't of said it best..... I think its just part of the whole MB experince. My gauge has been jumping around as long as i can remember. Its almost getting to the point where if it doesn't jump around i think its broken. I had a friend borrow my car once and tried to fill up the tank to realize that it was full. The gauge reads backwards compared to American Cars. I thought that was pretty funny. I wouldn't worry about your gauge.......

-biggs