Actual vs Computed

[acdii]

I got a couple warnings yesterday, one for the cross traffic alert, and one other, but dont remember what it was. I attribute both to the damp weather, my 10 was the same way.

[GrySql]

At least I print out my VHR as each warning appears on the dashboard (why do we call it a dashboard?).

Acdii, you disappoint me, I asked a question and didn't get an answer, what's up?

Oh, never mind, I remember now, you're polishing and detailing your cars, that is a good reason, I know I spend a lot of time doing same.

 

So, I looked it up:

A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel, or fascia) is a control panel placed in front of the driver of an automobile, housing instrumentation and controls for operation of the vehicle.

The word originally applied to a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to protect the driver from mud or other debris "dashed" (thrown) up by the wheels and horses' hooves.

[acdii]

Acdii, you disappoint me, I asked a question and didn't get an answer, what's up?

Oh, never mind, I remember now, you're polishing and detailing your cars, that is a good reason, I know I spend a lot of time doing same.

 

So, I looked it up:

A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel, or fascia) is a control panel placed in front of the driver of an automobile, housing instrumentation and controls for operation of the vehicle.

The word originally applied to a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to protect the driver from mud or other debris "dashed" (thrown) up by the wheels and horses' hooves.

DOH! I knew that too!

 

Nah, been a very busy day at work today, just taking a small break now to peruse the the forum.

[jsolan]

Strange that this happens almost at the 10k miles driven point. Computer mis-alignment....

I wonder if Jeff's car did this? Or, any other cars with over 9,000 miles.

I really think our early Job 1 cars need a software update for the operational OS.

 

Besides, your car and its high mileage and mine have one huge difference, mine has a loose nut behind the steering wheel.

Quirky behavior.

 

Mine only has 2500 miles on it and the past 2 fill ups I've put 1.5 gallons over the trip setting with only 1 or 2 extra clicks. Not as bad as what you guys are reporting, but it's quite annoying to "lose" 4 mpg by using correct math.

[hybridbear]

Maybe the issue is the miles too. A couple of places on our trip there have been sections of road setup for odometer testing. Both in Canada and the US. In Canada I just switched the car to kilometers and I found the odometer to be off. When I converted it to miles I found that the odometer is off by .1 miles for every 5 miles of travel. Or you would drive 50 miles and the odometer would only say you drove 49 miles. I found this to be true when checking on multiple sections of highway in the US setup for odometer testing also. This means on a 550 mile tank according to the trip odometer I actually drove 561 miles. If the car is under reporting our mileage this will also mess up our fuel economy by making our Fuelly numbers look worse since we're under reporting the miles on there.

Edited June 29, 2013 by hybridbear

[fusionTX]

Maybe the issue is the miles too. A couple of places on our trip there have been sections of road setup for odometer testing. Both in Canada and the US. In Canada I just switched the car to kilometers and I found the odometer to be off. When I converted it to miles I found that the odometer is off by .1 miles for every 5 miles of travel. Or you would drive 50 miles and the odometer would only say you drove 49 miles. I found this to be true when checking on multiple sections of highway in the US setup for odometer testing also. This means on a 550 mile tank according to the trip odometer I actually drove 561 miles. If the car is under reporting our mileage this will also mess up our fuel economy by making our Fuelly numbers look worse since we're under reporting the miles on there.

I've done my trips to Florida in three different cars, and with each car the trip gets shorter :)

The Honda Element reported about 1,122 miles door to door, the Camry Hybrid about 1,110, and the HyTi 1,092.

[corncobs]

That's quite a difference! Do you know what a GPS would be showing? Or google maps?

[acdii]

Old news really, I mentioned this way back when I had the first FFH SE. It was well under actual. With GPS to compare to the speedometer is low, so slow Speedo gets lower distance calculated.

 

On the Flip side, the car will have fewer miles reported than are really on it.

 

Always look on the bright side of life.

[fusionTX]

That's quite a difference! Do you know what a GPS would be showing? Or google maps?

Google maps reports 1,106 but that doesn't take into account stops for gas, coffee, rest areas.

So add 10 or 15 extra miles, and the Honda Element is probably the closest to being correct. I always assumed the Element was right because I think my speedometer on the Camry was a couple of MPH off. But maybe the Camry was more accurate. Not sure how many miles to add for stops.

 

Either way, the Fusion is definitely off.

[GrySql]

Just filled up again after that last fiasco in Post #21 where I put 3 gallons more in the tank after the first handle click.

Today the pump said 11.9 after 3 handle clicks, the Trip gauge said 12.6.

The car's computer is playing catch-up from the last big error.

No wonder my lifetime mpg's are so strange.

[fusionTX]

Maybe the issue is the miles too. A couple of places on our trip there have been sections of road setup for odometer testing. Both in Canada and the US. In Canada I just switched the car to kilometers and I found the odometer to be off. When I converted it to miles I found that the odometer is off by .1 miles for every 5 miles of travel. Or you would drive 50 miles and the odometer would only say you drove 49 miles. I found this to be true when checking on multiple sections of highway in the US setup for odometer testing also. This means on a 550 mile tank according to the trip odometer I actually drove 561 miles. If the car is under reporting our mileage this will also mess up our fuel economy by making our Fuelly numbers look worse since we're under reporting the miles on there.

Your numbers agree with mine. The Fusion odometer seems off about 2%.

[hybridbear]

Interesting thing with this inaccuracy is that if we then increase our Fuelly miles by 2% from what the car shows I bet we'll find the car's MPGs to be very accurate. It's possible that a lot of the discrepancy is that the car is underreporting miles and fuel use by 2%. Thus our gallons at the pump are more and make our fuel economy look worse, but the miles are also more and make the fuel economy equal out...

[acdii]

At least this new one is reporting equally every trip, unlike the last one. Every trip is consistent, where the other one would vary by as much as a half mile. When I talked with the Hybrid tech he said there is an allowed variance of as much as 10% with the speedometer. The HyTi I have now is consistent with the 2010 as the trip miles add up with that car. That means both cars are 23 @ 25, meaning that when the speedo is at 25 actual is 23.

[jsolan]

Interesting tibbit. I was doing a lot of traveling this weekend and decided to top off before leaving as gas is cheaper here than my destination. My trip gauge said I'd used about 3.5 gallons, however the tank only took 3.1 after 4 clicks

 

Perhaps the gauges are most accurate at the half-tank mark?

[GrySql]

Perhaps the gauges are most accurate at the half-tank mark?

Except for the fact that up until now the 'gallons pumped' matched the computers 'gallons used' pretty close.

This is new behavior for my car at 10k miles driven.

But it has been very hot here lately and possibly this is a gas tank venting issue as well.

I sure don't have an answer.

[lolder]

If you want repeat-ability on fill-ups, fill at the lowest notch and quit at the first shutoff. Putting in more clicks is less accurate. If you get another gallon in that's 45 more miles in a 500 mile tank.

Edited July 1, 2013 by lolder

[GrySql]

I agree, if I used the same gas station and pump, but until 2 fills ago things matched up with my repeated 3-click method.

That is the first handle click-off, followed by two more of the same. The FFH Manual says to limit the extra clicks to no more than two.

 

Why I could put an additional 3 gallons in (135 miles) one time out of many is where my brain gets fuzzy(er).

 

My concern is mainly with the operation of the car, is it running in a nominal fashion or is there something that needs fixing, doubt I'll ever know.

Mostly it's a topic of discussion, the detectives here have figured out lots of other interesting problems. :headscratch:

[murphy]

I have no knowledge of how gas tanks are designed. If it was possible to completely fill the tank and then the car was left parked in the hot sun the gas would expand and be forced out through the overflow creating a very dangerous situation. I hope the tank was designed to trap a pocket of air to allow room for expansion under high temperature conditions.