A C152 MADE AN OFF FIELD LNDG DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION.

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ON MAY/XX/98; I RENTED A C152 FROM THE FBO AT ZZZ. THE FLT WAS TO BE AN APPROX 50 MIN XCOUNTRY PLEASURE TRIP WITH A PAX. THE ACFT WAS RESERVED WITH A BLOCK OF 3 HRS STARTING AT XA45. DURING PREFLT; WHILE CHKING THE TANKS VISUALLY; I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THE TANKS NOT TOPPED OFF AND ESTIMATED THE FUEL TO BE 2 INCHES BELOW THE FILLER HOLE OR APPROX 3/4 FULL. I RATIONALIZED THIS CONDITION BY POSSIBLY THE LINEMAN BEING IN A HURRY OR PERHAPS A SUMMER POLICY FOR ACFT PERFORMANCE. (THE OWNER OF THE FBO LATER STATED THAT HIS ACFT ARE OFTEN NOT TOPPED OFF FOR PERFORMANCE REASONS.) AFTER ENG START I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THE FUEL GAUGES INDICATING BTWN 1/4 AND 1/3 ON EACH TANK. I WAS CONCERNED ENOUGH TO MAKE SEVERAL COMMENTS TO MY PAX ABOUT THE ACCURACY OF THE GAUGES. AFTER A NORMAL RUN-UP TKOF AND ENRTE TO THE DEST I CONTINUED TO BE CONCERNED WITH THE FUEL GAUGE READING. I REVIEWED THE PERFORMANCE MANUAL SEVERAL TIMES TO CONFIRM MY RANGE AND ENDURANCE EVEN USING WORSE CASE OF THE GAUGES BEING ACCURATE. I SHOULD HAVE HAD ENOUGH FOR DEST. APPROX 4 MI FROM LNDG; WITH THE L TANK READING 'E' AND THE R TANK READING '1/4' THE ENG STOPPED. AN OFF ARPT LNDG WAS MADE IN A LARGE PASTURE. THE ENG CONTINUED TO IDLE AFTER COMING TO A STOP. UPON SECURING THE ACFT; I VISUALLY CHKED THE FUEL IN THE WINGS WITH THE L ONE HAVING APPROX 1/2 INCHES AND THE R ONE HAVING APPROX 2 INCHES. I RESTARTED THE ACFT AND TAXIED TO THE EDGE OF THE PASTURE BORDERED BY A GRAVEL ROAD. I CALLED; BY CELL PHONE; THE FBO AND ADVISED I HAD EXPERIENCED AN ENG FAILURE WHICH APPEARED TO BE FUEL RELATED BUT THAT THERE WAS FUEL IN THE ACFT. AT MY ORIGINAL DEST ARPT; APPROX 1 HR LATER; I MET THE RECOVERY ACFT WITH THE MECH AND FLEW TO THE PASTURE. AFTER CHKING THE DOWNED ACFT; THE MECH STATED THAT IT WAS OUT OF FUEL. I TRIED TO VERIFY THE AMOUNT OF FUEL WITH A SCREWDRIVER HANDLE AND FLASHLIGHT. AGAIN; I SAW 1/2 INCHES IN THE L TANK AND APPROX 2 INCHES OR MORE IN THE R TANK. UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES; THE MECH AND I WERE NEVER ABLE TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT ON THE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN THE TANKS. AUTO FUEL WAS ADDED AND THE ACFT WAS FLOWN TO A NEARBY ARPT (TUP) AND TOPPED OFF. FLT WAS THEN CONTINUED TO THE ORIGINAL DEP ARPT. AFTER SPEAKING WITH SEVERAL MECHS; REVIEWING THE ACFT FLT MANUAL; STUDYING THE PHYSICAL SHAPE OF THE FUEL TANK AND CALCULATING THE FUEL ADDED MINUS THE FUEL BURN; I BELIEVE THE L TANK WAS EMPTY. (ALL I SAW WAS THE 'UNBURNABLE' .75 GALS.) THE R TANK HAD 1.5-2.0 GALS OF BURNABLE FUEL IN IT. I DO NOT KNOW WHY IT WOULD NOT FEED THE ENG. (POSSIBLY; A SLIGHTLY CLOGGED FUEL STRAINER?)