Tank never holds more than 7.5 Gallons

[kracker2k]

I wanted to see if anyone had any good suggestions for an issue I have on my 88.

I can never get more than 7.5 Gallons of gas in my 88. My fuel level sender does not work down past 3/4 of a tank (another concern) but due to this I have run out of gas completely a couple of time. Even when the car will not even start back up due to running out of gas I can still never get more than 7.5 Gallons in the tank no matter how slowly I pump the gas and which gas station I use.

I ran out again today on the way into work and coasted into a gas station. I filled it up as far as it would allow me and looked at the pump and it stopped again right at 7.5 Gallon.

Anyone have any ideas here?

Also, anyone have a fuel level sender for a carby by chance? This would at least be helpful.

[bravekozak]

The carby fuel level sender is part of the fuel tank lid. It is spotwelded on.
Personally, I would bite the bullet and order a new sender from Four Green.
Just realize how much wear there is on the resistance wire coil with twenty-six years of rubbing.

Remove your sender and look in your tank with a flashlight.
Is your overfill tube blocked?

Good luck.

[SWRT]

You could try holding open the little flap while you're filling it and let
the fumes vent out. If that doesn't work then push it open with a pen
or something. It wastes a bit of gas, but the pressure inside the tank is
probably causing the filler nozzle to think it's hit fuel. I'm assuming, but
that's worked for me in the past when it does that annoying crap. Maybe
someone more knowledgeable than me has a better idea.

I'd just give that a shot first, since it's free. Also, when you open the flap
try letting it vent for about 10 seconds and then blow into it from about
6" away. I've tried that to get some of the excess pressure out and it's
worked for me.

[Movin]

That is about all mine used to hold when it had a dent in the tank. Fixed the dent and the fuel sender worked for a year before the little wires finally wore through.

[Bert]

7.5 gallons is 29 litres. Festy tanks are supposed to hold 40 litres so you might have a great big dent somewhere. Undo the plate under the carpet behind the back seat and see if the top of the tank is close to the floor. If you have a tach cluster in your car (with built-in trip counter) just learn to refill at 300 miles, or keep a pad of paper handy to record mileage upon fill ups. Failing that keep one or two quart cans of gas in reserve. You don't want to run out of gas very often because it's havoc on the fuel pump to run dry for any period of time.

[rockin86ranger]

Heard about a guy that had a similar problem he dropped his car off at the shop and found out the car had gone through a police auction and half the gas tank had been made into a secret compartment full of cocaine that the police never found.

Not always a bad thing had a local dealership mysteriously close up out of nowhere, turned out (rumor has it, according to a friend that lived next door to him) he purchased a car at the auction and halfway home had a blowout and noticed something funny on the tire. Wen he got back to the shop he found al of them filled with cocaine even the spare, needless to say he never had to work again rumor has it he retired and lives in Florida.

[gauge_half_inch]

X2 on the dent. My turbo car has a huge dent in the tank where it appears someone tryied to jack up the car with a compact 2 ton jack. Running out of fuel, still only ever put 8.2 gallons in it to top it off completely.

[SiliconSoul]

That's a fair difference in the volume. Definitely cocaine... or maybe a dent....

[SWRT]

That's a fair difference in the volume. Definitely cocaine... or maybe a dent....

Ok, that made me laugh

[TominMO]

That's a fair difference in the volume. Definitely cocaine... or maybe a dent....

That would have to be one heck of a dent! Probably cocaine.

[tooldude]

If there isn't a dent in the tank, maybe the pickup tube is bent and doesn't reach the bottom, possibly bent up from all the gold coins in the tank

[88festivasam]

Mine does this sane thing mine was spitting and dying as I pulled in the station and it took 8 gallons. That's the most that's ever fit in mine too. My last dd would take 10. Its just annoying bc I can only get 250 miles out of a tank. Its auto

[nitrofarm]

Heard about a guy that had a similar problem he dropped his car off at the shop and found out the car had gone through a police auction and half the gas tank had been made into a secret compartment full of cocaine that the police never found.

Not always a bad thing had a local dealership mysteriously close up out of nowhere, turned out (rumor has it, according to a friend that lived next door to him) he purchased a car at the auction and halfway home had a blowout and noticed something funny on the tire. Wen he got back to the shop he found al of them filled with cocaine even the spare, needless to say he never had to work again rumor has it he retired and lives in Florida.

LOL :bs: gotta throw the BS flag on this one,gave me a good chuckle though.The story about the Color changing Copper Heads was better.

[rockin86ranger]

Lol I never much believed the one about the local dealer but it was a funny story that went around town for awhile, of course having dealt with him when my brother got a truck there I wouldn't be surprised if drugs was a big part of his disappearance. But it is plausible my uncle was an ATF agent for years and you would be surprised where all they hide drugs. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...res-truck.html

The Story about the police auction car on the hand is 100% true, http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar.../na-briefs30.7
never know what you are buying when you get a used car. Had an old couple bring a car in that needed a windshield and complained about the interior trim panel on the driver side falling down, took both sides off only to discover the passenger side was filled with needles. It was 1.5 year old Impala with less than 8,000miles on it that they just purchased two days before they dropped it off bit someone had been hiding stuff in the drivers pillar to the point the clips didn't hold any more and had to switch to the driver side.

That being said my story was never meant as an actual suggestion just a funny story about a similar situation.