Inaccurate fuel gauge?

[danllew]

Hi guys, I'm not sure if its my driving or if the fuel gauge really is inaccurate. Around town driving the computer says i average about 35-40 mpg but the fuel gauge seems to drop rapidly, the previous owner told me that it would take £40 to fill the tank half way, but from red it only takes £20 for me. And it seems to get to red from half, after about 80 miles which isn't long at all. I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on the problem and possibly how to fix it? thanks.

[lozz]

Its a 406 glitch I think mate.
A lot of 406s do it the gauges are all lies.

It ain't just 406s that do it I've seen other pugs the same.. french electrics for ya.

[danllew]

I hope you're right, i'm gonna have to fill it up full and see if i can work out an average consumption or something so i don't end up spending all my money on fuel when i don't need to.

[lozz]

What I used to do is just keep it off the reserve light,

If you hit the search button on here you will find a fair few mentions of the
Fuel gauge ,
On the old d9 I had it couid show a quarter of a tank and next morning after being sat it'd
Show over half a tank.

[Ares]

I have D8 type of car,and i am used to that crazy fuel gauge,i left the cat with quarter tank full,next day i start the car its on reserve,bloody hell
Drinks like Charlie Sheen

[mundy1989]

my 2001 406 hdi used to get half a tank from £20 when red light was on then say i had 320 miles on trip comp until empty but after 100 the light was on again, i think they are all a bit out,

[rwb]

Similar story here.

At the moment: when full the gauge isn't quite at the top mark. Then at about a quarter of a tank (~400 miles) it will suddenly jump up to a half tank.

It did go through a phase of consistently under-reading by a quarter tank, so I'd be driving round with the fuel light on for 150 miles or so.

The reading on my MFD is 10 to 12 mpg below what I measure by brim-to-brim, although this is unusual and most people report error of only 1 or 2.

[k_f]

The fuel gauge on mine has behaved well. The occasional glitch over the years but nothing on a regular basis as bad as described here.