Is it just me or do 240 gas gauges suck?!?!

[Natty]

Man, this gas guage sucks. I know I get really bad mileage (stock 1991 FB, 5 sp) and I need a tune up, but my gauge was at the top when I filled up to the max. I set my perfectly working trip odometer and at 50 miles, the needle is a hair above 3/4. This is a 16 gallon tank right?
The gauge jumps around a little, so I figure it could read up to 3 gallons, plus or minus. I know the manual says it will jump around based on if you are accelerating, but this is horrible.
Either the gauge sucks, or I am really getting SUV like efficiency. Maybe both.
All I know, is that when I fill up when the needle is on 1/4, it'll take anywhere from 14 to 9 gallons.
I fill up at 1/4 just to be safe now.
Anyone else get this? &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':crazy:'>
Jeff

[shiq]

Same thing happens to me all the time..

I filled it in to just a shade under 3\4...
33 miles later i'm pointing straight at 1\2, and then a few miles later it's a teeny bit <B>above</B> 1\2...

[Fuzzy Ewok]

I have a '97 240...gas gague seems to be accurate from full to 3/4, and from 1/4 to empty. &nbsp;But in the middle , it seems to overestimate how much I have remaining. &nbsp;It's not a huge deal, but I find it rapidly going from 1/2 to 1/4 from time to time as I'm driving on a decently long trip.

[Jeff240sx]

This is a popular car manufacturer secret.
At the dealership, they keep the cars with a full tank. &nbsp;Then you see a car, and wanna test drive it. &nbsp;They let you, and talk about what great gas mileage.
You drive for 10, 15 minutes, and pull back in, the needle hasn't moved.
The thing is, the first 1/4 tank is made to reflect a fraction of the actual amount of gas used. &nbsp;Then it makes up for it by moving faster than it should the other 3/4 tank.
This is why some people ask themselves, "does it seem like I get better mileage when i fill up?"
I talked to a salesperson and a parts manager at a Caddy dealership, that leaked the info to me.
-Jeff

[BadMoJo]

yeah, my needle was below E today, there was the E line then a little gap then the needle below it. I was like damn i need gas, went to fill up and put 15.1 gallons in. Its a 17 gal tank to, oh well. damn gas guage. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hmmm.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':hmmm:'>

[Anubis]

would an aftermarket fuel gauge from autometer or something make a diff.? Or is it something else.

[flipboi13]

I'm having the same problem on my 95 240sx. &nbsp;On older cars, there used to be a float which told you how much fuel was left based on its height in the gas tank. &nbsp;However, I'm pretty sure our 240SXs have a somewhat similar sort of diagonal guage inside the tank that gives you a reading based on the pressure inside that tank or something. &nbsp;However it works, that could be the problem, or maybe the fuel sending unit that relays this information to the gauge cluster. &nbsp;I could be wrong but maybe someone knows more about this.