Miles to E shows incorrect

[T1125P]

Hi all, I have noticed that every once in a while when I fill the gas tank up, the miles to E shows the wrong miles to empty. I tired to reset it by pressing info then reset, checking lamps, oil, etc etc, Its supposed to show over 300 miles to empty on a full tank. It shows now only 250. Only solution I tried was to take off the positive Batt. cable then put it back, and it worked. Is there another way?

[lordofsaanich]

Hi all, I have noticed that every once in a while when I fill the gas tank up, the miles to E shows the wrong miles to empty. I tired to reset it by pressing info then reset, checking lamps, oil, etc etc, Its supposed to show over 300 miles to empty on a full tank. It shows now only 250. Only solution I tried was to take off the positive Batt. cable then put it back, and it worked. Is there another way?

 

If you reset all the calculations it should sort the number out over a short bit of driving.

[FtLewis2002]

Miles to E isn't changed by resetting the computer. Miles to E is the average taken over the last 500 miles and will always err on the side of caution. It's in the manual.

[bbf2530]

Hi all, I have noticed that every once in a while when I fill the gas tank up, the miles to E shows the wrong miles to empty. I tired to reset it by pressing info then reset, checking lamps, oil, etc etc, Its supposed to show over 300 miles to empty on a full tank. It shows now only 250. Only solution I tried was to take off the positive Batt. cable then put it back, and it worked. Is there another way?

 

 

Hi Tii25P. :D Don't know if this applies to your situation or not, but better safe than sorry: The Owners Manual also mentions that we need to always turn the key completely to the "OFF" position when refueling. If you do not turn the key to the "OFF" position during filling of the fuel tank, the gas gauge readout (and thus the "Miles to Empty" readout) will be inaccurate until you turn the key off (sometimes takes several cycles) or drive for some time.

 

If this does not help, then an appointment for service is probably in order.

 

Let us know the outcome.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited December 29, 2009 by bbf2530

[T1125P]

Hi Tii25P. :D Don't know if this applies to your situation or not, but better safe than sorry: The Owners Manual also mentions that we need to always turn the key completely to the "OFF" position when refueling. If you do not turn the key to the "OFF" position during filling of the fuel tank, the gas gauge readout (and thus the "Miles to Empty" readout) will be inaccurate until you turn the key off (sometimes takes several cycles) or drive for some time.

 

If this does not help, then an appointment for service is probably in order.

 

Let us know the outcome.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

 

Ohh man.....Thanks, I always leave the radio on, but the key not completely turned off. So thats its then...I'll refill the car tonight and turn it off completely. Thanks a lot :)

[TomV]

I recall my car having about 2 gals left when it said 20 miles to E.

[firebuff312]

ive had that happen before and i finally realized why...you have to shut of the car and all the elctronics...if you dont it some how gets "confused" and shows an incorrect fuel level.

[noreast]

ive had that happen before and i finally realized why...you have to shut of the car and all the elctronics...if you dont it some how gets "confused" and shows an incorrect fuel level.

I always turn the ignition off and place the key in my pocket when I refuel (paranoid about someone driving away with my precious as I pay at the cashier). Still, my Kilometers to Empty (Canadian readout, eh?) is always an "optimistic" guess. I averages 16.5 L / 100 KM ( ~14.5 MPG, calculated manually using trip counter and liters of fuel as I fill up). The computer displays AVG L/100KM as 15.

When I fill up, I usually put around 55 Liters. A simple calculation using my observed L/100KM value shows the tank is good for ~340 KM. Yet, the computer shows 550 KM to E. I have not read the manual yet regarding KM to E, but I wonder how the computer is calculating this figure.

Even by its more optimistic L/100KM (15) the computer should display ~360 KM to E. But 550? That is ridiculous.

Also as I drive, KM to E drops almost twice as fast as actual kilometers driven.

It seems that the computer uses a preset L/100KM instead of average value it calculates when determining KM to E.

As I drive, KM to E drops almost twice as fast as the actual KM driven.

[acdii]

It's a computer guys! You know, garbage in = garbage out! After having this feature in so many cars over the past 2 decades, I take what they read out with a grain of sand. The only method to know for sure is to document everything. Miles driven, gallons replaced, price per gallon, and then every few months, put it all into a spreadsheet, and see what the true MPG is. Once you know that one single number, then you know that when you fill up, you have so many miles to E, no matter what the little screen says. None, repeat, none of these trip meters are accurate, even on the Hybrids. When I had the Prius and Camry Hybrids, I documented every mile and every gallon. The final result was, the Prius summer 53 MPG, winter 43 MPG, the readout varied from 41-49 no matter what time of year it was. I was a bit surprised when my summer came out to 53 when the display read 49. The Camry was the closest to the truth, lifetime average was 35 MPG, the readout was right around 38, and varied very little from that. The Flex is so far off it's not even worth looking at, It read out 22.3 MPG, yet the tank came out to 18. :drop: I think that one is off by at least 4 MPG. When I saw 25 MPG, the tank came out to 20 MPG.

[06FuSiOn3.0L]

If you reset all the calculations it should sort the number out over a short bit of driving.

 

im always driving in the city and when i fill up i only get 250 miles to E. but when i drove from south carolina to michigan i set up the trips at 0 and i went about 400 miles on what it said 250 miles to E. but when i filled up again it got to 370 then i re-fueled and that shit was at 430 miles :)

[akirby]

im always driving in the city and when i fill up i only get 250 miles to E. but when i drove from south carolina to michigan i set up the trips at 0 and i went about 400 miles on what it said 250 miles to E. but when i filled up again it got to 370 then i re-fueled and that shit was at 430 miles :)

 

It's based on an internal average over the last XX miles (I've heard 500 but I don't know for sure). Resetting the averages displayed doesn't affect it. Based on your city driving it was expecting 250 miles but you went on a highway trip so naturally you got a lot more than that. After your highway trip, it recalculated. Sounds perfectly normal to me. Your average mpg went from about 16 in the city to 26 after the long highway trip.

[noreast]

It's based on an internal average over the last XX miles (I've heard 500 but I don't know for sure). Resetting the averages displayed doesn't affect it. Based on your city driving it was expecting 250 miles but you went on a highway trip so naturally you got a lot more than that. After your highway trip, it recalculated. Sounds perfectly normal to me. Your average mpg went from about 16 in the city to 26 after the long highway trip.

I noticed similar changes after a long trip. But still, the computer it is way too optimistic. Even after driving more than 1000 KM ( > 600 miles) after returning from my trip, KM to E still projects at least 75% more KM than actual. B.T.W. since I returned from my long trip, I only drove my usual route, so whatever the distance it uses to calculate the average consumption, I must have driven more than that on the same route, so it should have a pretty good estimate of my fuel consumption.

And it still does like I mentioned in my first post, KM to E drops 1.5 to 2 KM for every actual 1 KM driven. I learned to ignore it and go by trip odometer to estimate how many KMs I have in reserve.

Brain matter triumphs over silicone chips yet again. :happy feet:

Edited May 8, 2010 by noreast

[FFHdriver]

I noticed similar changes after a long trip. But still, the computer it is way too optimistic. Even after driving more than 1000 KM ( > 600 miles) after returning from my trip, KM to E still projects at least 75% more KM than actual. B.T.W. since I returned from my long trip, I only drove my usual route, so whatever the distance it uses to calculate the average consumption, I must have driven more than that on the same route, so it should have a pretty good estimate of my fuel consumption.

And it still does like I mentioned in my first post, KM to E drops 1.5 to 2 KM for every actual 1 KM driven. I learned to ignore it and go by trip odometer to estimate how many KMs I have in reserve.

Brain matter triumphs over silicone chips yet again. :happy feet:

Don't understand why someone worries about the distance to empty numbers, look at your gas gauge and buy gas when it gets close to empty.

[noreast]

Don't understand why someone worries about the distance to empty numbers, look at your gas gauge and buy gas when it gets close to empty.

Because my car is driven by myself and my wife, and we do not both share the same level of urgency to fill up as the needle creeps towards E. An accurate KM to E would convince my better half that it really IS the time to top it off.

[Rodeo]

It's a nice feature to have and use especially if you travel allot like me and you're on a thruway somewhere where the "service areas" are a known entity (Service area 1 mile ahead - next service area 25 miles) so you can better plan your stops for refueling and bathroom breaks too. It's not uncommon for me to do 400-450 mile daily jaunts and having this fuel meter is a convenience for sure. Likewise when you're in unfamiliar territory where you aren't sure when the next gas station will be found, it gives you a little peace of mind knowing how far you can go (roughly speaking) before you need to panic and search out a gas station.

 

Gas gauges are notoriously inaccurate (historically) and the needle drops slowly from full to mid range but get down to a quarter tank and the gas seems to just evaporate quickly. That's why the other gauge is helpful some times.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Rodeo

[pcsgrp35se]

So far I have gotten down to 1 or 2 miles before empty and the car takes 15.6 gallons of fuel. I don't know if there is a light that also goes on but that would have been a nice thing. I never let it get to totally empty but I have to say, I once watch the traffic helicopter taking a picture of a stalled car on tht Z bridge and as it turned out, it was my then girlfriend now wife in her brand new altima. Her excuse was that her last altima she could go another 100 miles when the light came on so she didn't consider the light on a big issue. ...................I say no more !

[Rodeo]

So far I have gotten down to 1 or 2 miles before empty and the car takes 15.6 gallons of fuel. I don't know if there is a light that also goes on but that would have been a nice thing. I never let it get to totally empty but I have to say, I once watch the traffic helicopter taking a picture of a stalled car on tht Z bridge and as it turned out, it was my then girlfriend now wife in her brand new altima. Her excuse was that her last altima she could go another 100 miles when the light came on so she didn't consider the light on a big issue. ...................I say no more !

I'll bet she made lots of "friends" that day huh? I hope for her sake that she was cute looking at least. (I'm sure she is.)

[sparbanie]

You know i saw a thing on dateline or some news show that showed dodge vans driving past 0 miles to empty. The spokeswoman said that it was purposely set that way. If my memory serves me right they were able to drive i think 18 miles after 0 miles to empty. Anyway has anybody themselves tried to do this themselves? Stupid question i know but just curious and yes i know mileage will vary.

[akirby]

You know i saw a thing on dateline or some news show that showed dodge vans driving past 0 miles to empty. The spokeswoman said that it was purposely set that way. If my memory serves me right they were able to drive i think 18 miles after 0 miles to empty. Anyway has anybody themselves tried to do this themselves? Stupid question i know but just curious and yes i know mileage will vary.

 

With Ford you still have 1-2 gallons after the message center hits 0. But I wouldn't push it - it's not good for the fuel pump.