I have a 2003 Hyundai Elantra GT. It has a regualr gas gauge then it has a digital one. For whatever gas you have in your tank, the digital display tells you how many miles you can get out of that tank of gas. For every mile you drive, the mileage goes down. (I hope this makes sense)

Well, the last couple of months, the gauge has been acting funny.

The other day I got off work and was sitting in my car up at thte employee parking lot. I sat there for maybe 2 minuets. I had the key on the acc(?) The display said I had 88 miles on it. (which is what it said when I got there for work)I started my car and the gas light came on. (comes on at 50) It then said I only had 37 miles. It jumped drastically from 88 to 37.

This is not the first time it has done this.

Sometimes while driving, the mileage will go up instead of down.

The other day, when I was driving home from Eugene, 131 miles from my house, it was acting strange. I drove several miles and the mileage never went up nor did it ever go down. It stayed on the same mileage for several miles. Then when the mileage did start to change, it went up instead of down.

I tried contacting a dealer but I have to bring it in. I already have to take my car in because I have 2 recall notices on it. But it is a 1.5 hour drive to the nearest dealer.

Anyway, is the gas gauge problem something to be concerned about? Is it anything serious?

Thanks

All I can think of is that maybe it's differentiating between city and highway mileage numbers. If you're idling or making a lot of stop/starts, the gauge may be smart enough to understand you're in city traffic, which would equate to lower MPG.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Just go by the float gauge that you normally would in another car.

One word of advice, though- try not to drive under 1/8 a tank whenever possible. Low fuel levels make your fuel pump run in a "dry" environment, which is bad for the pump. And if you burn up the pump, I can tell you from personal experience it's not much fun to drop your fuel tank and replace the mechanism.

Thank You Cincy.

As for the city traffic bit, my drive to work is mostly city traffic. I drive the whole way down Highway 101 but 95% of it is through town.

When I was driving home from Eugene the other day, and the miles on the digital gauge kept going up in numbers or nowhere at all, I was driving on the freeway.

I wasn't really too awful concerned about it. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious.

And yes, I have the bad habit of waiting till the last minuet to get gas in my car. I keep telling myself never let it go past 1/2 a tank but I end up letting it go way past the 1/2 way mark. (because I hate going to the gas station!)

Thanks Again

That digital "gauge" is actually a readout of the projected miles until you have to refill the tank. Your car's ECU analyzes the data its receiving from various sensors and computes how far you can go under current conditions. When those conditions change, the readout will also change. Follow Cincy's advice and use the analog guage to tell you when to fill up.