this isn't the first instance of inaccurate readings like this... I wonder what a good fix can be for it?

 

Oh, and p.s. when I filled the tank it took about 11.5 gallons. If capacity is 12.0 (sorry I'm not sure) then I should have been good for at least 10 more miles. But of course that'd mean both the "39" and the "0" were grossly wrong.

Screw it ... I'm just going to watch the needle like I always used to with every other car.

 

Per ford website, capacity is 12.4 gallons. [http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/specifications/capacities/]

 

I haven't got the indicator yet, but in my last car something similar happened. If I turned of the car after the low fuel light popped on, the next time I turned it on, it would flash and say zero miles.

If you want to risk it, you can always test when the light comes on, fill up right away and see how many gallons it takes. My last car, the fuel indicator came on with about 2 gallons to go, so I know I had at least 20 miles before emergency.

 

Isn't it nice that with the Focus a 2 gallon warning would mean at least 60 miles to go!!

 

Definitely would not rely on that thing. I note the Miles to E after each fill-up and I also reset the trip odometer and I notice that not long thereafter (check it after I burn through about a quarter tank), the amount of miles on the odo is definitely not the initial Miles to E minus the distance I have actually driven.

 

i'm thinking the d2e is based off of how efficiently the vehicle is running. on my way to visit my folks for thanksgiving, i had 3/4 full tank... but my focus stated i could only drive 145 miles (normally drive >5 miles to work, barely any time for the car to warm up.. which isn't very effiecient). the trip to my folks' house from my place down here is over 260 miles one way.

i made it there with over 1/4 tank left, averaging 33mpg.

when the op's vehicle was running the night before... based on its efficiency, it could probably go another 39 miles. but, starting it up the next day... cold... and not efficient at all, of course the vehicle would state it couldn't drive that far.

kind of like how i "gained" miles driving to my folks' place. with how i normally drive my car, it WOULD run out in about 145 miles. but, seeing as i took it on the highway and it was running more efficiently... it made it to my folks' place with gas to spare.

 

I had this happen to me last night, all i did was shut off the car and turn it back on and it went back to the original reading.

 

It has something to do with moving and being stationary that can give different readings.

When you're moving, the gasoline is moving around inside the tank. The readout is an estimate. When you're sitting still, the readout is more accurate. This has happened to me numerous times when I'll be driving and get one number, but after I've been parked for a minute or two the number is vastly different. Once I start moving again the number changes.

It is the reason vehicles are equipped with small gasoline reserves. It compensates for inaccurate readings so if you're displaying E or 0, you can still make it to the next fuel station before completely running out.

 

So why take the chance in the first place? Just stop and fill up before you get to E. [scratch]

 

The DTE and low fuel light are very inconsistant in this car. Most cars the fuel light comes on exactly at 50MTE, not this one.

Mine ran out of gas at 7 MTE, after it's gone to zero in the past.

Guess you cant trust the readouts to be consistant on this car.

 

I have found this to be true in every vehicle I have owned that was equipped with a DTE reading...My 2005 Mountaineer said 0 miles to E when there was still at least one useable gallon left in the tank. The computer reads your current MPG against the aproximate fuel level from the in tank guage, and divides the two readings to get DTE. Its approximate as has been stated above...The reason a analog guage is still included I guess...[goofydrunk]

 

You should fill your tank when you get to just below 1/4 tank.
This is to protect the elecric fuel pump in your tank which relies on being submerged in fuel for cooling. (This applies to all cars with in tank fuel pumps, not just Focus).
I've seen a few overheated fuel pumps and the sight is not pretty.
The fuel gauge is not actually analog. It's digitally controlled just as all the other gauges in the car are.

 

X2!!!!!!! Nothing ever good comes from the bottom of any tank!!
FISH
SEWER
OIL
GAS
ECT....

 

My car has consistently given me an indicator between 40-50mte. Every single time.

 

So far my little 'low fuel warning' light has come on with about 2 gallons left.
Which is the only thing i pay any attention to. The 'miles to empty' I look at when the low fuel light comes on, but i do not rely on it much.. I just figure i have so many miles to get gas.
Why tempt fate? And I had run out of fuel on my last car, and needed a fuel pump soon after. So I agree running out is very bad, because it will cost you.

 

I've only filled four times (1,550 miles). Only once was I down to below 1/4 tank, indicated. My MTE said 42 miles and she took 11.2 gallons - I was averaging 35.4 at the time so pretty close.[thumb]

 

I haven't ever run out of fuel. Knock on wood. My last car would start slowly if the fuel was low after a cold night....

I have a default gas station a block away, so I go there when running late and I need gas. It is right on the corner of my street before you get to the freeway.

 

Once ran out of gas in between 2 gas stations (about 150ft apart), on my way to my gas station. Too funny. Another, years ago, ran out of gas rolling past a gas station. That time I just wasn't paying attention. Now, we have lights and sometimes bells when we're low.

 

I have parts the car overnight with DTE reading 24 and the next morning go to drive the car and the DTE starts a downward spiral, by the time I had driven 5 miles the next morning it had plummeted down to DTE 0.

Unfortunately by that point I was on a Toll rode, where the next gas station wasn't for another 10 miles or so. I was running late to get my wife to a train station and thought I had enough fuel to get there and hit a gas station immediately afterwards.

Needless to say I drove about 8 miles with it reading DTE = 0 and when I filled her up I put in 11.94 gallons of gas.

I think one thing some of us are seeing is just how inefficiently these engines run cold. Perhaps the mechanism measuring DTE is off when the system is cold.

But something is funky here. Needless to say I have decided I should try and refill the tank once I have anything less than 100~80 miles of DTE. My Commute is 60 miles each way and at least that won't leave me in a pinch the next morning. Which could be a bad thing with winter and all.

 

I have parts the car overnight with DTE reading 24 and the next morning go to drive the car and the DTE starts a downward spiral, by the time I had driven 5 miles the next morning it had plummeted down to DTE 0.

Unfortunately by that point I was on a Toll rode, where the next gas station wasn't for another 10 miles or so. I was running late to get my wife to a train station and thought I had enough fuel to get there and hit a gas station immediately afterwards.

Needless to say I drove about 8 miles with it reading DTE = 0 and when I filled her up I put in 11.94 gallons of gas.

I think one thing some of us are seeing is just how inefficiently these engines run cold. Perhaps the mechanism measuring DTE is off when the system is cold.

But something is funky here. Needless to say I have decided I should try and refill the tank once I have anything less than 100~80 miles of DTE. My Commute is 60 miles each way and at least that won't leave me in a pinch the next morning. Which could be a bad thing with winter and all.

i think that's an understatement. with my normal commute ( >5mi) and the dte predictions, i can't see how it will ever reach the epa estimates.

i know all cars run like garbage before they're brought up to running conditions / temps, not knocking the focus on this. just why i think dte drops so much when the car is cold as opposed to seeing xx distances when the car is warm.

 

I've only got one fill-up on mine so far (tho the car's at two technically, since it was driven 225 miles to my dealer before I took delivery) and ran into one of the D-to-E bugs this weekend...

Was driving on the interstate and the reading just froze... drove about 10 mins and it never decreased. Switched off the screen (to MPG, etc.) and back, and it dropped 9 miles back to around where I'd have expected it to be. Ran into the behavior again a couple times the same night, though that was the most extended period I came across.

 

I want to truly test this out for myself. Hmmmm

 

My Explorer's manual says the dte uses an average mpg of the last 500 miles. It might be similar for the focus.

 

Last Friday I got my car from the dealership (water leaking) and didn't realize that they ran it almost bone dry. By the time I was at a gas station my DTE was 1.8km or about 1 mile. I was sweating bullets because I knew how unreliable these features were but the Focus didn't do me wrong. I filled it up with 46.5 liters (IIRC) and that's about half a liter to empty. Thank god I made it without calling for roadside assistance. [thumb]

 

if you watch top gear, Jermey Clarkson got some like 90 miles after trip computer hit 0 (zero) in an Audi, these thing are never accurate. even if u are up or down hill, the number will change, or the temperature, whatever cause the pressure change where the sensor is at.

 

The Focus uses an in-tank submerged electrical fuel pump which needs fuel to cool it down.
It's advisable to fill up when the fuel gauge needle shows half way between a quarter tank and empty. (This is to protect the fuel pump)