The gauge in mine, besides being dependent on vehicle attitude to be
consistent, it also is skewed towards "Empty" a bit...A full tank takes the
needle to below the full mark and an empty tank is well below the 'empty'
end of the scale...

   For the longest time I was clue-less on how the gauge is marked...Must
be a German thing, but half way across the sweep of the gauge needle is the
first mark...a Bold mark...then 3/4 across the sweep is a small thin mark
and the bottom is a red area...  I was mistaken thinking the bold mark at
half way meant half a tank....and the next smaller one was 1/4 tank...when
in truth the bold one is just 1/4 tank gone and the smaller one three
quarters across the dial, that means 1/2 tank is gone....How did I ever
come to that conclusion?....I didn't get an owner's manual when I bought
this 30yr old van...   I use the gauge as a back up....I rely on my odo
tripmeter...

On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 9:20 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Yes, the gauge is useless on steep grades because it's a big flat bottomed
> tank and the fuel flows to the ends, especially when partially full.
>
>  Early in my life with my '84 I attempted to circumnavigate Mt. Rainier on
> about 3/4 tank, and as I got into the steep grades the level dropped so
> fast I couldn’t take the stress for more than a few miles and turned
> around.  Downhill I had over 3/4 tank!  I hadn't reset the odo and didn't
> know what was going on so I aborted the trip.  I know now I could have
> easily made it all the way around, and back then there was even a gas
> station at the Sunrise visitor center I didn't know about.
>
> Knowledge is power!
>
> Stuart
>
> Don Hanson wrote:
>
> ....So I keep an eye on my odo...my gas gauge is rather vague depending on
> the attitude of the van....
>
>
>
>