[djcgmcse]

I know there's been a few posts about the Distance to E guage being off by just a bit. Here's two of my experiences so far that gave me a few seconds of panic.

1) Drove home and gas light came on just down the street from my house. Distance to E was 42 miles. Figured, no big deal, I'll just fillup in the morning on my way out. Next day, start the car. Distance to E = 0 miles. Doh! Well I drove 5 miles to the gas station no problem, but still freaked me out. Distance to E stayed at 0 the whole time.

2) Driving to work today, gas light came on, Distance to E was 50 miles. No big deal, I should be able to make it 30 miles to the town where I work. (Gas is usually about 10 cents cheaper there too). I'm about 10 miles from work, and Distance to E was about 25 at this time, and all of a sudden it's counting down like a countdown clock.. really fast. Every few seconds i'm losing another mile. Within two minutes I went from 25 to 9. I pulled right off the next exit and added a gallon. Darn station was like 20 cents higher than everywhere else.

Oh well, it's all good and I'm learning quick that it's pretty finicky. Just something to put out there incase someone else runs into this same problem.

 

[alex62390]

in my car i have gone 50 miles after the light came on. I don't have a distance to empty.

In my sisters VW, she has gone about 30 to 40 miles after the DTE reads 0. I think that SAABs do the same thing. they read as zero but still hold a back up reserve capacity.

Also, the gauge could read lower in the morning because the fuel is colder. Also the DTE is calculated by the approximate mpg. So, say the computer was reading 50mpg(coasting or whatever), then as you drive the MPG will go down, making the distance go down, faster.

 

[lscrx]

in my car i have gone 50 miles after the light came on. I don't have a distance to empty.

In my sisters VW, she has gone about 30 to 40 miles after the DTE reads 0. I think that SAABs do the same thing. they read as zero but still hold a back up reserve capacity.

Also, the gauge could read lower in the morning because the fuel is colder. Also the DTE is calculated by the approximate mpg. So, say the computer was reading 50mpg(coasting or whatever), then as you drive the MPG will go down, making the distance go down, faster.

MY Saab only reads DTE to about 20 miles, then it says "Refuel immediately".

Posted via FF Mobile

 

[svcook]

I think the DtoE can give strange readings is because it is based on average mpg at the time of calculation. DtoE is always changing based a couple of variables: speed and driving conditions seem like two important variables.

I was on "0" a couple of weeks back and for a really long time at "0" to empty. I knew the tank has 12.4 gallons and I was averaging 32 mpg on that tank of gass. The trip odometer for that tank read 350 miles driven since last fill up so I the math indicated that I had about 1.4 gallons of gas in the tank using 32mpg average. Enough to go about 45 miles, even though the DtoE read "0".

 

[checkgio]

I've been testing this because I always like to know how far I can go after the empty light comes on. I've brought the DTE down to 1 mile on 2 different occasions. Maybe the computer learns how long you usually wait to get gas and compensates to have a little more gas in reserve than it's actually showing?

 

[chum567]

My car went from 300 miles to E to 210 and I had only drove 20miles....so i would def say it is off.

 

[CrazyDave]

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

When little needle is close to E, get some gas.
My sister had a Mitsupieceycrappy once that had a little warning light that would glow brighter and brighter as the tank emptied.
Good lord, who has that much faith in electronics as to risk running out.

 

[RustySocket]

I know there's been a few posts about the Distance to E guage being off by just a bit. Here's two of my experiences so far that gave me a few seconds of panic.

1) Drove home and gas light came on just down the street from my house. Distance to E was 42 miles. Figured, no big deal, I'll just fillup in the morning on my way out. Next day, start the car. Distance to E = 0 miles. Doh! Well I drove 5 miles to the gas station no problem, but still freaked me out. Distance to E stayed at 0 the whole time.

2) Driving to work today, gas light came on, Distance to E was 50 miles. No big deal, I should be able to make it 30 miles to the town where I work. (Gas is usually about 10 cents cheaper there too). I'm about 10 miles from work, and Distance to E was about 25 at this time, and all of a sudden it's counting down like a countdown clock.. really fast. Every few seconds i'm losing another mile. Within two minutes I went from 25 to 9. I pulled right off the next exit and added a gallon. Darn station was like 20 cents higher than everywhere else.

Oh well, it's all good and I'm learning quick that it's pretty finicky. Just something to put out there incase someone else runs into this same problem.

I understand your frustration.... but you would seriously stop, add a gallon of gas, then stop again at a second station to save 2$???

Growing up in a cold rural area... empty to me is when I get down to about a half tank.

 

[Gobird]

I don't know where the fuel pump is on these but on the retro T-Birds it's in the tank and leaving the tank run down this low isn't a good ides. The fuel pump will over heat and can burn out. I never leave my tanks go lower the 1/4 to 1/8 tank.

 

[QR25DE_SpecV]

I've noticed Ford fuel sender units are very inaccurate, and not linear in the slightest!

The Germans got it right, a BMW fuel gauge is incredibly accurate.

 

[darcar]

You guys remind me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEdU_lrtZk