Question Gas Guage 98 GTS

[Atari_Prime]

So...my GTS has been sitting dormant for the most part for the last couple of months. The last time I took it out was to the gas station where I filled the tank. About two minutes later gas was running down the side of my car because I left the gas cap on the pump and did a short full throttle burst. This lasted about 100 ft before noticed. Over the next few weeks I started the car for between 10-30 minutes to get some juice to the battery but otherwise it remained in the garage.

Which brings us to yesterday. I decide to go for a drive. She starts up just fine and runs just fine. I notice while pulling out of the garage that the gas guage is only on about 3/4. I'm thinking how can this be, I just filled her up. Over the course of the drive, the guage behaves normal. It now shows about 1/2 tank.

So...my question is, is my gas guage likely reading correctly? I guess I can fill the tank again to do a test. It just surprises me that I might use that much gas in spillage during my short burst of speed and a few starts to keep the battery juiced up. Thoughts?

[daveg]

Fill the tank again.

[Steve-Indy]

Agree with Dave.

By the way, in my opinion, you would be better off using a battery tender (float charger) then letting the Viper sit and idle that long on a chronic basis. Yes, it consumes gas, but it also heats up the cats and sidesills. Certainly more than one Viper has fried the upstream 02 sensor wires after a prolonged idle period without airflow to cool the cats...especially cars with headers.

A final point of consideration would be that not all Gen I and II Vipers put out enough juice at idle to really charge the battery. While we have all likely done this at one time or another, use of a float charger is a more reliable mechanism.

[usmcfieldmp]

Agree with Dave.

By the way, in my opinion, you would be better off using a battery tender (float charger) then letting the Viper sit and idle that long on a chronic basis. Yes, it consumes gas, but it also heats up the cats and sidesills. Certainly more than one Viper has fried the upstream 02 sensor wires after a prolonged idle period without airflow to cool the cats...especially cars with headers.

A final point of consideration would be that not all Gen I and II Vipers put out enough juice at idle to really charge the battery. While we have all likely done this at one time or another, use of a float charger is a more reliable mechanism.

100% agree here. Lots of reasons why excessive idling is bad. My main concern would be the oil not coming up to full temperature after simply idling for 10-20 minutes, which then leaves condensation and fuel in your oil.