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Old 02-10-2011, 04:41 PM   #4 (permalink)
some_other_dave
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For an illustration of why this happens, fill a wide pan about 1/2 way with water. Now tilt it a bit--not so much that the water slops out, but enough to notice. Look at the level of the water in the pan on the "downhill" side. Is it halfway up the side of the pan?

Now tilt the pan the other way, and look at the level of the water on the "uphill" side. Not halfway up the side of the pan, either, is it?

The sender for your fuel gauge is showing you the level of the fuel in the tank near one side or the other. As the fuel sloshes around, the reading changes. Most of the gauges are pretty heavily damped so that they don't react to sudden changes, but if the change goes on for long enough (probably on the order of tens of seconds??) the results will show on the gauge.

Frank's advice is, indeed, the best way to deal with it.

-soD
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