On Saturday I fueled up and started heading out on the interstate with a friend at the wheel. It read all but one of the little carrots full when we left. After driving about 15 minutes, I glanced down at the gauge and realized it had only 4 carrots illuminated! I immediately freaked and told my friend to hit the OBC button on the stalk to see if we had a fuel leak, but it read out that we still had 4xx miles to go until empty. We pulled off and turned it off and back on. Still just 4 illuminated. I called my dealer and they had to discuss it and call me back. We continued our journey and it still had only those 4 lit. After turning it off and on a few more times over the next couple of hours, it suddenly righted itself. The dealer finally called back after the problem corrected itself and said I'd have to bring it in for a diagnosis. Considering the 3.5 hr trip there, I'm going to hold off unless it does it again. So far though it's back to normal.

Has this ever happened to anyone? The dealer suspects I may have a faulty fuel sensor.

 

I have had that happen on my 04MCS twice. It always corrected itself. I really dont even use the guage much, I fill it twice a week, and hit the trip odometer, when it hits 260 miles, its time to fill up.

 

It seems the 1st Gen MINIs have a problem where the fuel gauge will read low or empty after a fillup. Some have said it means the fuel level sensor in the tank is slowly dying. My '06 MCS did this about two months ago, but only the one time. I have a habit of slam-filling my tank. I drove down the interstate for about 15 miles, then drove another mile or so to a parking lot, cut off my MINI, and let it sit for a minute. After I restarted, the fuel gauge came up to the full line.

 

Hmm, so apparently not many people with a second gen MINI have experienced this issue? I'm assuming it's just a slightly faulty sensor.

 

So, if it is a faulty sensor, then where does the OBC get the data to allow it to read the more accurate 4XX miles?

 

It could be a faulty sensor but at least on the first gens I think it could be a comm problem on the canbus. Maybe the electronics are made by Microsoft and the car needs to be re-booted to get everything working again. Or Lord Lucas could have let some of the smoke out...