Yesterday we filled up the gas can we got the other day and transfered the gas to my car.  Afterward I had a go at starting her up, she did some sputtering as she did so, but that evened out and she sounded normal.  So it appears it was lack of gas after all (yay).  So why didn't it start when we got gas last time?  Well, I have a theory on that.

In my experience, when you pre-pay for gas in the store itself, people usually ask by the dollar, not the gallon (e.g.  'I'd like to pre-pay for five dollars of gas on pump 2').  It's easier to go by dollar amount than gallon because of how much gas prices can vary week to week, hell, even day to day in some cases.  And let's face it: how many people really keep track of how much gas their tank holds?  Let alone bother to calulate how much gas is left in it? Hell, I had to look up how big the tank in my car is ('supposed' to be 12 gal, though I suspect it's closer to 10, I'll get to why in a moment).  So, when my brother went to ask to prepay for 2 gallons of gas, the clerk automatically thought he meant 2 dollars worth, which amounted to only about 2/3rds of a gallon with the prices right now, if that.  Which meant, the car was not given enough gas to start up properly to begin with the first time.  That's my theory anyway.

Anyway, there's definately something wrong with the fuel gauge.  Between both refueling attempts, we put in around 5 gallons, but the fuel gauge showed 3/4 of a tank fuel after starting her up, which means the gauge is at least 1/4 of a tank off (hense why I suspect the tank is only a 10 gal)!  Faulty gauge, or perhaps a lot of crap in the tank, maybe both, who knows: I'll let an autoshop figure it out...eventually (getting family back up on their feet health wise is a bigger priority since we have two cars).  Of course, dad doesn't see how it's a big deal and keeps telling me a faulty fuel guage can be 'worked around'.  Uh...no, dad, something like this should be checked out and not 'worked around' in case there's a bigger problem (plus the hazard lights don't work at all, while all the other lights do).  I know why he thinks this: he doesn't trust the autoshop workers and doesn't want them to screw me over.  I already told him that I would be very specific with what they need to look at when I do take it in (fuel gauge, hazard lights and an oil change, that's it).  But, again, that will be dealt with eventually:  family health is more important right now.

In other news, dad is continuing it get better, but my throat infection seems to have come back...again.  *groan*  Why won't it stay away?  I really hope I don't have something like tonsilitis...as I really cannot afford surgery or things like that (no health insurance atm).