Sluggish fuel gauge
 

Today my fuel light came on and 4 miles later I filled up the tank. I put in 16.8 gallons, got in the car and started it and the low fuel warning light was still on. I shut the car off and restarted it and it was still on. Figuring I had enough gas I drove the next 5 miles home. About .5 miles into the drive the light went out. The fuel gauge SLOOOWLY went up. When I got home it was at about 2/3rds full. I then turne the car off and back on and watched the gauge. Every 10 seconds or so it would take a small step higher. I watched it until it was at 3/4 tank and then went in for dinner. After dinner I turned on the car and it registered full.

What's up?

Floater getting stuck?

Re: Floater getting stuck?
 

Unless it is saturated I have a hard time believing it could react that slowly. I could believe it could get stuck solid but I would think that then it would release suddently, not such a slow movement.

I'm having a similar problem with my 92 S4- I'm going to dig into the Bentley to find out...
 

how the low fuel warning works and whether it's a separate signal from the fuel gauge.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Fuel sender? not a cheap fix though $130

K, checked the Bentley- the only things in the circuit are the sender, gauge, and auto check...
 

so it's probably the sender. I'm pretty sure the fuel pump has never been done on the 92, so I'll probably just do both at once.

Leaky float or bad damper? Does someone who has been inside have an opinion?
 

Is it possible for the float to develope a leak.

Also, the needle of the gauge or the float is damped somehow so the gauge does not bounce around. Could that be the problem?

There is major damping on the needle and/or cluster electronics.
 

I have a cluster on the bench, and to clear the low gas warning I hooked up a pot to the fuel level sender input. It takes on the order of 10-15 seconds for a change in resistance to register on the gauge.

Every UrS(4) I've had has done that when the tank has been filled, engine on.
 

You SURE you didn't leave it running during fill-up? ;)

I did not leave it running, but I did turn on the ignition...
 

I wanted to write down the milage in my log book so I turned on the ignition and I may have left it on without the engine running during the fill. Would that have done it?