.....

No I aint had that prob YET

but I can only get 57L in the tank

Same thing happens in the corolla first half tank very slow then second half just disappears

havent ownes mine for long enough to really notice but the first half does take ages to go down

anyone having problems with the petrol guage / fuel sender in the 380? when the low fuel light comes on i can only get 45 litres of petrol in the tank. starting to think the 380 has the same fuel sender problems as the magna :(

I see it as a good thing, that way I have a massive reserve, when my fuel tank is supposedly "empty"

I got down to zero km to empty per the trip meter a week ago, and it took 61 litres to fill.

According to the manual the fuel tank capacity is 67 litres.

So still 6 litres left when according to the trip meter there is none left.

Might just be a 'safety' margin, or it could be that the fuel pick up isn't right at the bottom of the tank and you can't use the last 3 or 4 litres in the tank. Or both. And you probably don't want to pick up any sludge from the bottom of the tank anyway.

KJ.

Ahh, the old "sludge at the bottom of the tank" urban legend.

The fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank anyway btw - its permanently sucking so called "sludge" ;)

Looking at page 13B-9 of the workshop manual (exploded view of the fuel tank components), its hard to tell exactly how low in the tank the fuel pick-up sits. It's attached to the fuel pump which sits on the passenger side of the tank, and the fuel level sensor is on the other side of the tank. Between the two is the 'central hump' of the tank.
It's also hard to see how the fuel pick-up can access fuel from the other side of the tank, given the hump in between. I'm guessing it has something to do with the 'fuel tank levelling hose' (component #20 on page 13B-9), but again it's hard to see from the diagram what this hose does and how it works. I'm guessing that the fuel pick-up doesn't sit right on the bottom of the tank and its a few mm above the bottom. I'm also guessing that the fuel level sensor float never gets right to the bottom on it's side of the tank, and it's calibrated to show 'empty' when it's still floating in a few mm of fuel. These two guesses of mine between them would explain why it seems impossible to completely empty the tank in normal driving, why it never takes anywhere near 67 litres in a fill, and why the trip meter shows 'no fuel left' when there must be at least 5 litres left. Of course these are just guesses and someone who actually knows what they are talking about when it comes to the 380 fuel tank can set me straight! And I agree that sludge in the bottom of the tank is probably an urban myth these days, but maybe it wasn't such a myth a few years ago with lower grade fuels and different tank construction?

KJ.

anyone having problems with the petrol guage / fuel sender in the 380? when the low fuel light comes on i can only get 45 litres of petrol in the tank. starting to think the 380 has the same fuel sender problems as the magna :(

My TE does this, the fuel light comes on when there is about 1/8 tank left, then eventually goes off and comes back on when the needle is on E. I always thought this was by design rather than a fault, ie it warns you when you're getting low so you have plenty of time to fill up and then stays on when its getting critical.

This is a good thing for when you are on the highway with the next petrol stop 100km away and not a 'oh sh*t' I'll be pushing this thing very shortly.

I've also noticed the first half of the tanK (ie from full to half) appears strong and long-lasting, then the second half drains away much quicker.
I noticed once the distance-to-empty reading hits 50 kms, this estimate really drops quicker and never returns an actual 50 kms.
Also, checking my spreadsheet... I've had 1 61 litre fill up, 1 60 and a few 59s. On these occasions, I always had the low-fuel light come on, but I can't remember what the distance-to-empty reading was (was a long time ago and I don't keep that info) - but I do recall the lowest I've seen was 10 kms (the fuel gauge needle going below the last line).
As for "sludge", in my other car (VS Berlina) I recently filled it up from 'vapours' and when driving home it spluttered, lurched, and almost stalled - but only once.

Ive found that starting the car after its been parked on an incline for a while plays havoc with the fuel gauge. I had b/w 1/4 and 1/2 in it when i parked it. When I drove off again, the red light came on and the gauge was empty. Came right again after about 10 min.

anyone having problems with the petrol guage / fuel sender in the 380? when the low fuel light comes on i can only get 45 litres of petrol in the tank. starting to think the 380 has the same fuel sender problems as the magna :(

Maybe get the filter/sender replaced as they are an all in one unit

If the unit was anything like my air filter it would have never being replaced in the 4 years that the car was on the road :nuts: