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Strange fuel level experience

488 views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  vvrjrlaw 
#1 ·
I filled my 2007 e350 sport sedan and drove about 6 miles to the office. Parked in a location not too visible from the building. Returned several hours later and saw that the gas gauge reported tank was down maybe 5-8 gallons. No smell of gas anywhere in the car. After driving home, I filled it thinking that the gauge was providing a faulty reading. But no, in fact the fuel usage was consistent with "normal" miles per gallon on the drive home (about 3 gallons) plus the loss shown on the gauge. After parking car overnight, fuel tank was still full this am.

Questions: could someone have stolen gas from the tank? I thought that was almost impossible (car wasn't necessarily locked so could have gotten access to the filler tube) to siphon gas from "modern" cars. Could I have a leak but no gas odor at all? That seems strange. Could the car have burned 5-8 gallons diving six miles? Without rough engine or any check engine lights?

Very strange, would be interested in comments from this group.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
I have "filled" my tank before, only to find out later that apparently I didn't notice that the nozzle from the gas pump had shut off before the tank was full-I "assumed," and I didn't look at my gauge to make sure the tank was full before I left.

I don't think you burned that much gas in that short a distance, and while someone may have taken some of the gas, that is probably unlikely as well.

Maybe try refilling and see if it replicates?
 
#3 ·
I don't think you could siphon gas off car if you wanted to. Before I had my leaking tank replaced under extended warranty, I tried to siphon gas off my tank using a pump for that purpose in order to lower gas level to get rid of fuel smell, but I could not even get a drop out. I ended up driving car for a while till fuel level dropped.
 
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