Narrative:

I was flying at 4;500 ft MSL and had encountered severe turbulence for many miles. The autopilot altitude would not hold and the heading also deviated 30 degrees. I figured the headwind was between 18 to 23 KTS and then it would suddenly change to a crosswind or tailwind. I shut the autopilot off and hand flew the plane. Then both the fuel gauges showed about 1/2 full. I had refueled before starting and had flown for 1 hour 17 minutes. I carry four (4) hours of fuel...56 gallons usable; thus I should have only used a little over 1/4 on each tank. I checked for the nearest airports on my garmin 430. I had written all the identifiers down before I left on the trip for preflight planning thus I knew the airport names. I also have current sectionals and highlight my positions every 20 minutes or so. The closest airport had no fuel. I turned toward next nearest airport which had fuel. Then the clock quit. The oil pressure gauge was showing no pressure and the fuel gauges were now reading 1/4 tank each. The oil temperature gauge has higher than normal. The left fuel gauge was oscillating wildly and on its' low ebb it was below empty. Then my garmin 340 went dead followed shortly by the narco navigation backup. I tried to call center; who I had been using for flight flowing and then it blacked out also. There was a long straight road to my left. No fences or power poles were seen. There was no traffic behind me and only 2 vehicles in the far distance in front. I determined that my safest option if in reality my fuel gauges were reading correctly and my oil pressure was gone was to land on the road. I safely put the plane down. I had to walk many yards to where the car had stopped and explain the situation. A truck pulled in behind the car. He put up his red triangles many yards in front and behind my plane. I called 911 to send a highway patrol but the cell phone coverage is very sparse out in that area. He did call his dispatch and about 45 minutes later a fish game and wildlife man showed up followed in about 20 minutes later a highway patrol. I had called FSS to close my flight plan earlier. The few cars that did arrive could drive under the wing. Two trucks had to wait. I had already called an a and P repairman he came and checked the battery which the highway patrol had charged. He gave the ok after calling the FAA and the road was closed. I took off and headed for ZZZ following highways. The sun was going down. I landed at ZZZ for I had no landing lights and no electrical. I needed to see the runway. The next day I flew to ZZZ1. It is now evening and the mechanic and I have been working all day on trouble shooting the electrical system. He just finished putting a new bushing into the generator. All seems to be working now. I am writing this to say as PIC; I choose to land the plane in the safest place at the time with what the instruments were reading. Land the airplane had been taught to me for 21 years. I did not want to run out of fuel over very rugged terrain or have the engine seize on me either.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot landed on a highway after experiencing instrument and electrical failures.

Narrative: I was flying at 4;500 FT MSL and had encountered severe turbulence for many miles. The autopilot altitude would not hold and the heading also deviated 30 degrees. I figured the headwind was between 18 to 23 KTS and then it would suddenly change to a crosswind or tailwind. I shut the autopilot off and hand flew the plane. Then both the fuel gauges showed about 1/2 full. I had refueled before starting and had flown for 1 hour 17 minutes. I carry four (4) hours of fuel...56 gallons usable; thus I should have only used a little over 1/4 on each tank. I checked for the nearest airports on my Garmin 430. I had written all the identifiers down before I left on the trip for preflight planning thus I knew the airport names. I also have current sectionals and highlight my positions every 20 minutes or so. The closest airport had no fuel. I turned toward next nearest airport which had fuel. Then the clock quit. The oil pressure gauge was showing no pressure and the fuel gauges were now reading 1/4 tank each. The oil temperature gauge has higher than normal. The left fuel gauge was oscillating wildly and on its' low ebb it was below empty. Then my Garmin 340 went dead followed shortly by the Narco navigation backup. I tried to call Center; who I had been using for flight flowing and then it blacked out also. There was a long straight road to my left. No fences or power poles were seen. There was no traffic behind me and only 2 vehicles in the far distance in front. I determined that my safest option if in reality my fuel gauges were reading correctly and my oil pressure was gone was to land on the road. I safely put the plane down. I had to walk many yards to where the car had stopped and explain the situation. A truck pulled in behind the car. He put up his red triangles many yards in front and behind my plane. I called 911 to send a highway patrol but the cell phone coverage is very sparse out in that area. He did call his Dispatch and about 45 minutes later a Fish Game and Wildlife man showed up followed in about 20 minutes later a highway patrol. I had called FSS to close my flight plan earlier. The few cars that did arrive could drive under the wing. Two trucks had to wait. I had already called an A and P Repairman he came and checked the battery which the highway patrol had charged. He gave the ok after calling the FAA and the road was closed. I took off and headed for ZZZ following highways. The sun was going down. I landed at ZZZ for I had no landing lights and no electrical. I needed to see the runway. The next day I flew to ZZZ1. It is now evening and the mechanic and I have been working all day on trouble shooting the electrical system. He just finished putting a new bushing into the generator. All seems to be working now. I am writing this to say as PIC; I choose to land the plane in the safest place at the time with what the instruments were reading. Land the airplane had been taught to me for 21 years. I did not want to run out of fuel over very rugged terrain or have the engine seize on me either.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.