HELP: car won't start and gas gauge shows empty...

[MidnightCruiser]

it happened all of a sudden today. in the morning on the way to work, it started fine. in the afternoon on the way to lunch, it started fine. after lunch on the way back to work, it won't start. since then every single time i need to jump start it. so i'm thinking it's the bad battery or the starter.

but here's the whacky part, when i jump started the car for the second time, the gas gauge showed empty and the dashboard said 0 miles. so i quickly went to the closest gas station and poured gas until the pump stopped. assuming that the tank was full, i put it away and guess what, it only put 12 gallons. so with a help of a nice guy at the gas station i restarted the car again and the gas gauge now showed 3/4 full. wtf? as i was driving back home, the gauge slowly went up and by the time i got home (about 20 min. drive) it showed full.

so now after a few hours of rest i restart the car just to see, the gauge shows empty and it says 0 miles again!!! there's no sign of leak anywhere whatsoever. could this be battery related?? and if the battery is causing all this, does that mean the starter is fine?

how should i go about fixing these problems????

tia

PS
oh and when i was looking for a leak, i heard some hissing/air gushing out sound from right rear (passenger side) wheel area. but it went away as soon as the car turned off. what could that be? and could that be related??

[moses0324]

im not sure what to say about the guage but the hissing sound is your fuel pump..... thats why your car isnt starting...its not getting the fuel from the tank because of the fuel pump or fuel filter....clean the filter and see what happens....like i said i dont know about the gauge though

[alexza4]

the problem does sound like the fuel pump problem, i had a very similar issue on my wife's X5.

as for the fuel guage getting to full realy slow, i had this happen when i furst got my a4, first time i got gas. it took about 15 minutes for it to finaly get to full. that was it, no other adverse affects. it has only happened once and never since that.

[diagnosticator]

Have the car scanned for DTCs, procede based on the results.

[manguyen]

the problem does sound like the fuel pump problem, i had a very similar issue on my wife's X5.

as for the fuel guage getting to full realy slow, i had this happen when i furst got my a4, first time i got gas. it took about 15 minutes for it to finaly get to full. that was it, no other adverse affects. it has only happened once and never since that.

The problem is when you fill up, dont leave your car in the "on" position. This happened to me beforer and someone on here filled me in.

[GTMRS4]

My benz did that, it turned out being a sensor. Take it to a shop and let them know whats going on.

[A4TL]

well duh everyone since OBD-II has come out has known you never fill up with the car on, the fuel sender is relative.. not absolute.

[kpatz]

When you say it doesn't start, do you mean it doesn't turn over/crank at all, until you jump it? Or does it chugga chugga but not catch? (We need a sticky that says "when posting about no-start problems, please indicate what does happen when you turn the key!!"

If it isn't cranking until you jump it, you have a bad battery. This causes all the computers in your car to reset, which could be causing some of your fuel gauge issues too, until everything recalibrates.

[ratty]

Damn... when I saw the topic I thought this was one of those "I ran out of gas, is that covered under warranty" threads.

Oh well, I have a smile just thinking it could have been.

[F16HTON]

When you battery lose a couple of cells, and dies, the gauge cluster does not work properly. I know this from experience. You need to invest 88 bucks into a new battery.

[romell]

its ur fuelp pump, ur dealer will tell u its ur fuel filter so they can loot off you, but its the fuel pressure regulator/fuel pump

[MidnightCruiser]

thanks guys...

so it's either the fuel pump (which i'm hoping it's not) or just the battery. i'll have a mechanic check it out.

kpatz: the key turns and it makes 'click click' sound. indicators turn up while i'm turning the key.

[kpatz]

click click but no cranky cranky? Then you jump it and it cranks and starts up?

It's the battery. The fuel pump wouldn't make it need a jump.

[MidnightCruiser]

kpatz is indeed right. i replaced the battery and now everything's back to normal.

[F16HTON]

When you battery lose a couple of cells, and dies, the gauge cluster does not work properly. I know this from experience. You need to invest 88 bucks into a new battery.

Told ya so!