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Hi all,
My wife's car will not drive all the way to an empty gas tank. The engine will be fuel starved with about 1.2 gallons left in the tank. (Intermittent starvation)
The car is a base 2001 Audi TT (non-quattro, smaller engine). Same platform as the Mk 4 VW Golf. Fuel tank capacity is listed as 14.5 gallons. This morning after some hesitation on the freeway (talk about pucker factor), I filled up to 13.0 gallons when the fuel nozzle clicked off, then pumped a few more clicks to 13.3 gallons. I'm missing 1.2 gallons.
Most cars I can run all the way to essentially empty. A little history on the TT: the fuel gauge recently became a little wonky, i.e. it now reads empty with about 3 gallons of gas left in the tank (was previously accurate). Per an internet search, the reason for this is varnish on the sensor, so I've added fuel cleaner (Chevron Techron) to the past two fill-ups (and the reason why I want to drive it until most of the gas is out.)
Bottom line, I don't aim to drive the car until the last drop. But I am curious, why would the engine be fuel starved when the tank has a fair amount of gas left? Previously the car ran fine all the way to "empty". She has had the car since new, well-maintained. It is 15 years old and just shy of 40k miles. Is this the result of 15 year's crud accumulation in the tank?
Curious if folks here might know. I am posting on VWVortex as well, and will gladly share feedback.
My wife's car will not drive all the way to an empty gas tank. The engine will be fuel starved with about 1.2 gallons left in the tank. (Intermittent starvation)
The car is a base 2001 Audi TT (non-quattro, smaller engine). Same platform as the Mk 4 VW Golf. Fuel tank capacity is listed as 14.5 gallons. This morning after some hesitation on the freeway (talk about pucker factor), I filled up to 13.0 gallons when the fuel nozzle clicked off, then pumped a few more clicks to 13.3 gallons. I'm missing 1.2 gallons.
Most cars I can run all the way to essentially empty. A little history on the TT: the fuel gauge recently became a little wonky, i.e. it now reads empty with about 3 gallons of gas left in the tank (was previously accurate). Per an internet search, the reason for this is varnish on the sensor, so I've added fuel cleaner (Chevron Techron) to the past two fill-ups (and the reason why I want to drive it until most of the gas is out.)
Bottom line, I don't aim to drive the car until the last drop. But I am curious, why would the engine be fuel starved when the tank has a fair amount of gas left? Previously the car ran fine all the way to "empty". She has had the car since new, well-maintained. It is 15 years old and just shy of 40k miles. Is this the result of 15 year's crud accumulation in the tank?
Curious if folks here might know. I am posting on VWVortex as well, and will gladly share feedback.