But, he said he put 16.1 gallons of fuel into the tank.   That indicates
that the tank is not damaged -- it holds what the spec says it holds.
My tank is bent, and that is a part of why it runs dry when the gauge
reads 1/4 full.  Dave Mc

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 6:09 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote:

> Take a good look at the bottom of the tank. It is common for the
> bottom to
> be pushed up by folks using the tank or straps to lift the van. They
> miss-take those straps as frame members. Also, I have seen a defective
> vapor
> control system cause the tank to go under vacuum and be sucked in.
> This
> happens real easy on the aftermarket replacements.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of
> Steve Williams
> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 11:29 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Fuel Gauge Behavior Changed
>
> I ran my '84 Westy out of gas today, thank goodness within walking
> distance of a gas station.
>
> I knew the fuel was low, but the gauge was still well above the red
> band, and I've driven more miles on a tank.  I was running errands
> and decided to complete just one more task before filling up.
>
> I put 16.1 gallons into the 16-gallon tank.  The van got 19.0 mpg on
> this tank, so that's pretty normal.
>
> The question is: Why didn't the gauge dip into the red, as it always
> has before?
>
> A clue: The gauge didn't budge when I poured a 2-gallon gas can into
> the
> tank.
>
> When the engine died, I was sure it was because I had depleted the
> battery.  I'm the guy that keeps posting to the list about the low
> voltage from my alternator.  But that wasn't the problem this time.