96 Outback fuel "gauge" issue

[pwoens]

here's the scenario. I fill up the car, but it doesnt take nearly as much in either gas or money to fill it up. It only takes roughly 8 gallons to fill it up now, where it use to take 12gal or so. After its filled up, start driving and the gauge shows full for a few miles, then drops down to 7/8 of a tank. The guage seems to drop faster than the actual gas amount. And when it gets almost to empty on the guage, we fill it up and it only takes 8 or so gallons and the trip meter only shows 150-170 miles total??? not sure if the problem is the guage in the dash, a sending unit, or

 

Any body have this issue or know how to narrow down the issue?

 

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.

[rcoaster]

here's the scenario. I fill up the car, but it doesnt take nearly as much in either gas or money to fill it up. It only takes roughly 8 gallons to fill it up now, where it use to take 12gal or so. After its filled up, start driving and the gauge shows full for a few miles, then drops down to 7/8 of a tank. The guage seems to drop faster than the actual gas amount. And when it gets almost to empty on the guage, we fill it up and it only takes 8 or so gallons and the trip meter only shows 150-170 miles total??? not sure if the problem is the guage in the dash, a sending unit, or

 

Any body have this issue or know how to narrow down the issue?

 

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.

 

That's normal. My 96 Outback does exactly the same. I usually drive until the low fuel light comes on and then fill up. I get about 13-14 gallons at fill up. It's the "oops factor" that Subaru put in the fuel gauge as well as the speedo. 150-170 miles out of 8 gallons sounds about right. I usually go about 230-240 miles on a tankful before the low gas light comes on. The gauge seems to linger in "E" for a while before the light comes on.

[Cougar]

It sounds like the sending unit in the tank is not working correctly. Some folks have fixed their units by removing them and cleaning the sliding contacts. There may be two senders in you tank.

[JohnnyB]

Yep, mine does the same thing and has since new. I usually set the trip meter to gauge how far I can go, but I have pushed the needle at times well past the E, and the most I have been able to fill up was almost 14 gallons. The GF's 04 Forester seems to do the same thing.

[95legacy]

Hi everyone, first post here. I just purchased a 95 legacy awd as a commuter vehicle and my car does the exact same thing. When there's a full tank, it shows full but I noticed twice already that when it hits "e" I'm only filling around 8 gallons on a 15 gallon tank!

 

Has anyone tried fixing this at their mechanic and it is an expenisive fix? I guess I'm trying to ask is it even something to bother with or should I just start paying more attention to the trip gauge? Thanks!

[blitz]

Found this as part of an "ALL-DATA" regurgitation: (take it for what it's worth.)

 

"FUEL GUAGES ON "E" (10/96)"

 

"Which would you rather have happen. Finding out that your car has more gas in the tank than you thought or getting stranded, out of gas, on the side of the road? Hopefully you're among the thinking people and chose the first alternative. This is Subaru's perspective also. That's why you will find that Subaru has provided a generous "E" on their fuel guages giving the customer an extra margin for error in their driving should they overlook monitoring their fuel supply for too long a time period. This prompts drivers to obtain fuel before they are in danger of running out and getting stranded."

...

 

"Our Owner's Manuals state that the low fuel warning lights come on when there are about 2.3 US gallons left in the tank. Those are 2.3 usable gallons when the light is on steady . There is always some fuel (approx 1 US gallon) intentionally left unusable at the bottom of fuel tanks to help prevent contaminants received during fueling (water, sand, etc) from being drawn into the injection system. This means that between the usable 2.3 gallons left and the unusable 1 gallon left, that there are at least 3.3 gallons left in the tank when the guage reads "E" and the low fuel light is not on steady yet."

 

"On a Legacy with a 15.9 gallon tank, this means that if you fuel your car when the guage reads "E" and the low fuel light is not on steady yet, you will be putting in approximately 12 gallons. This is normal. It also means that if you fuel your vehicle this way you will never get yourself stranded by finding yourself unexpectedly out of gas."