Why am I running out of gas?

[joe kirdahy]

My 89'ran out of gas,butit only took 13 gallons.When it ran out of gas the gauge read emty,after 13 gallons it reads full.
Not a great cruising range when you get 5.2 mpg's around town with the AC on.This 89'is from California if that makes a difference.

[chefmrl]

My sending unit is broke and some days it reads 1/2 full, then the next its full. The other day I thought I had at least a 1/2 a tank and me and my son were crusing home.....
Blub..girgle..blub..blub
It ran out of gas..S__T

I would say its the fuel sending unit.

Best regards,

Chef Mike
Former Islander

[AcelaTech]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by joe kirdahy:
My 89'ran out of gas,butit only took 13 gallons.When it ran out of gas the gauge read emty,after 13 gallons it reads full.
Not a great cruising range when you get 5.2 mpg's around town with the AC on.This 89'is from California if that makes a difference. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


WOW 5.2 mpg?? I thought mine was bad ....I'm getting about 12-14 around town!
Sure glad I dont live in CA anymore.

[joe]

Joe, the sending unit is prolly bad. You can access it by drilling out the rivets in the cover on the floor behind the back seat. Just be careful when you do, the "plastic" tank is directly under(&lt;1"?) the cover so don't drill too deep.
Unfortunately if you're only getting 5 mpg's you've got other probs as well. You should be getting at least 10 and reasonably 12 or even a bit better.
-joe

[gbarrett]

Well, my 84 GW will only hold about 12 or 13 gallons. I'm not sure what you're used to, but I agree that the tank is a bit small for the truck size and mileage. I am moving my spare to a tire carrier on the back so I can add a large, secondary tank where the spare used to be.

Good luck.

Greg

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84 GW
Driveline is
Stock 360/727 combo.
New paint, carpet, stereo. Rhino grille, etc.

[joe]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gbarrett:
Well, my 84 GW will only hold about 12 or 13 gallons. I'm not sure what you're used to, but I agree that the tank is a bit small for the truck size and mileage<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Greg, you're either not running it all the way down and/or your fuel gauge is off. Assuming you have a stock tank since the plastic ones generally last forever. A stock factory GW tank holds 21.5 US gallons.
-joe

[scotty]

yeah-if i ran it down almost to "E" it used to take me every of 18 or 19 gals to fill mine up when i was using my stock tank. maybe you guys have a broken or cracked pickup tube that is unable to pickup anymore fuel after a point even tho there is a bunch of it left in the tank. that would certainly give the impression of running out of gas,and it would always use the same amount of fuel before doing so. OUCH im getting about 10 in my j20 and was alittle unhappy about that! 5.2 is pretty bad...



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scott
85 grand wagoneer
258 with motorcraft 2bbl/904/twin stick dana 300/dana 44/welded amc 20
38x15.5 gumbo mudders
snorkel/dual batteries/onboard air/"custom" convertable
3 inch body lift/mostly stock suspension/"modified" fender openings
custom front/rear bumpers and brushgaurd

possible small block chevy "test" swap in near future

[andy d]

i think scott has nailed it. both my brother and i have late model (88+89) gwags both of us have had fuel gauge sender unit probs. new one will run ya about $150. pickup prolly either clogged up or broke off. i repaired one once on my 81.replaced metal pickup with piece of gas hose + a fuel filter.tank holds about 21 gals or so like Joe said. 5mpg? you must sit in some tuff traffic. or the choke is stuck or something

[JERRY88GW]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by -joe:

Greg, you're either not running it all the way down and/or your fuel gauge is off. Assuming you have a stock tank since the plastic ones generally last forever. A stock factory GW tank holds 21.5 US gallons.
-joe<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

21.5 gallons! Really? I think mine only holds around 14? I know it's stock.

[Narnian]

As far as I know, there were two different gas tanks available since day 1. A thirteen gallon and a twenty gallon. Luck of the draw as to which one you have in your Jeep.

[joe]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Narnian:
As far as I know, there were two different gas tanks available since day 1. A thirteen gallon and a twenty gallon. Luck of the draw as to which one you have in your Jeep.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well if there was a smaller tank avail it's not listed or even mentioned in any factory TSM or in any factory Parts Manual either. Even the little CJ's came with a 15 gal tank and optional 20.

The 21.5 gal mentioned earlier referred to GW era but even the first Wag ever to be built in 1962 came with a 20 gal tank. My 63 Wag holds 20 gal as they all did. Only FSJ's to ever use a smaller(&lt;20gal) tank were the J-Series trucks in the later years which held 18.2 US gal, the early ones also held 20 gal.
-joe

[gbarrett]

Ok, I did it. I just filled my BONE DRY tank on my 84 GW. It held 18.16 gallons to the top of the filler neck. Yes, it was a dry tank! I guess I need to consider a supplemental tank as well. Given our gas mileage situation with these beasts, I would like to drive more than 200 miles on one fill-up.

Just thought y'all would like to know.

Greg

[porkchop]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by -joe:
the first Wag ever to be built in 1962 came with a 20 gal tank. My 63 Wag holds 20 gal as they all did. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just looked at my owners manual for my '67 to confirm what I already knew, and that is that I only have a 18 gal tank on mine. It is factory. I never heard of the 20 gal tank.

------------------
'67/'79 Wagoneer mix
"Old Timer"
Body of a 33 year old
Heart and legs of a 21 year old.
Spirit of a 1 year old.
360,TH400,QT,D44's F&R
SOA 32X11.50's

"I regret that I have but only one paycheck to give to my Jeep."

[Narnian]

My source is not a good one. I read a review in a 4 Wheeler mag many moons ago. (Late eighties?) They complained about their test G wagoneer coming with the tiny 13 gallon tank, but that the larger 20 gallon was available.

I haven't read the article in years and my memory for details may have failed me. It may have been 15 gallon versus 21.X gallon. All I know for sure is they complained about getting the smaller gas tank on their test vehicle. Of course they may have been off their rocker too.

I do remember (clearly) that the gas guage on my old Chief would hit red, and when I filled it it only took about 12 gallons, and that it would read full after that. Maybe it was broke too. I dunno. I also know I put 18.5 gallons in my Laredo tank last night, and it was just barely in the red. I put 19 gallons in four weeks ago, so it has to at least be a 20 gallon ( I never let it get down to the end of red).

I know Jeep didn't make changes very often to the basic design, but maybe they had different size tanks available during different years?