My truck’s fuel bell goes off after about 225 miles and takes about 15 gallons. It has always been this way. The problem is that it has a 22 gal gas tank. The dealer says I need a new fuel sensor. I think I have an automobile sensor and Dodge should replace it.
As I understand it, the car is telling you to stop and fill up when you get down to roughly 7 gallons. I don’t see a problem here. Would you prefer that it warned you only when you completely ran out of gas and left you stranded?
What is an “automobile sensor”. What does an “automobile sensor” sense?
Can You Give Some Information On The Age Of This Dodge Dakota ? A Model-Year Would Be A Good Starting Point. How Many Miles On It ?
How long a time is "It has always been this way. " ?
Did you purchase new or used ?
Still under warranty ?
Dealer refuses To fix it under warranty ?
CSA
When your fuel minder goes off while you still have 7 gallons in the tank, it isn’t costing you any more to put in gasoline that if the fuel minder went off when there were only 2 gallons in the tank. In fact, for the cost of the repair, you can buy quite a bit of gasoline.
It’s a 2002 model, purchased new in January of 2002. It has 78,000 miles on the odometer.
The dealer has always denied it was a factory error and the truck in now out of warranty.
What is the problem? Do you want it to indicate low fuel closer to empty? Don’t you have a gauge? Why do you want to wait until you are almost out of fuel for it to remind you that it is time? It will not save you any money to run it lower. I have run out of few a few time in the many years I have been driving. I really hate it. It is also bad for your car. Just fill up a little sooner.
I would prefer that the gas gauge worked like it was supposed to and the dealer replace it.
The point everyone is trying to make is that it sounds like the system is operating properly. The fuel warning is supposed to let you know you need fuel while you still have plenty left to get to a gas station. There are commonly places throughout the midwest and the southwest where it can be a long way to the next gas station, and a few gallons might not get you there. And then you just might end up replacing the fuel pump as well as having been stranded. The fuel bell is supposed to help you prevent that from happening.
IUt isn’t designed to tell you the tank is empty. It’s designed to let you know you should get gas while you still have plenty of gas left to get to a station…even if you live in the midwest.
Why would you want to run the tank empty anyway? There’s no reason to do so, and good reason not to.
You Seem To Be Insistent That The Dealer Fix It Under Warranty, But Now You’re Out Of Warranty. You Should Have Been More Insistent When It Was Covered, Even Trying Some Different Dealers.
The ship has sailed. I think it’s too late now, unless you have it documented in writing on a dealer R.O. and even then I wouldn’t count on Chrysler Corp helping you, but you can ask them. If all 02 Dakotas do this, there may not be a fix. It could be designed right into it.
CSA
Wouldn’t if be nice if all errors were made on the safe side…
If you have it documented that you complained about this issue before the warranty ran out, you could contact the regional representative for Dodge and complain about the dealer’s assessment. Then, the regional rep could override the dealer, and make them fix it under warranty.
No good answer. I agree that isn’t normal operation but the issue should have been pressed earlier on. I wonder is it a sending unit issue or a ecm / bcm issue. Is the info sent from the tank correct? Darn , now I gotta do some research on the operation. Ed
FWIW, at my age I don’t like to sweat the small stuff. Every vehicle that I own has a trip meter on it and I fill up soon after seeing 200 on it. None of my vehicles has an accurate fuel gauge on it. I wouldn’t bet my life on any fuel gauge. They all work but they are about as accurate as a teenagers watch. Why worry. Fill up when you have used more than 1/2 the tank and sleep soundly.
I Always Fill Up At 200 Miles Just So I Don’t Go Into Shock Looking At The Total Gas Fill-Up Price.
CSA
I had this same problem on my (then new) 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. I reported it within a few months of buying the car, and the dealer gladly replaced the in-tank sending unit.
The OP’s truck, however, is 9 years old and way out of warranty. It’s difficult to make a case for warranty replacement now.