A-Spec_Racer

hey guys...so great news and okay news.

Firstly the great news. I filled my tank before I went on this 80km run with a full tank of Esso 91. Filled it right to the rim. Tonight I knew I would be doing about 60% highway driving, for a grand total of about 80 km (50 Miles). Anyhow I went 22km on the highway, at which point the needle stayed full. I didn't see a difference in the needle until about 50km, and at that point it dropped ever so slightly. Then I went to a buddy's house about 4 km away, and at that point the needle went over and above the F line, it went as if there were 1-2 lines above it. We went inside and chilled for about 1.5 hours and then I came out and turned on the car. To my surprise, the needle was down 2 notches, I was like WTF is someone drinking the gas? Anyhow I continued on, drove my friend home, and enter back on the highway with about 59km on this tank, still maintaining 2 notches below the F mark. I got home with a grand total of 79.4km, and then chilled in my driveway for like 10 min with the engine running while I listened to music. The needle somehow went back up, and is not between the F line, and the notch below that. So I'm thrilled. It looks like after a total of 80km I used hardly any gas, which brings me to the conclusion that I'm nuts, and there really isn't anything wrong with my car. But this get me thinking. Why does the damn needle bounce around so much? It managed to go from the Full mark, to the notch about 3/4 mark and then back to the notch below the F mark. Any ideas if this can be re-calibrated in order to be more accurate? Any of you guys finding that when you take a sharp left turn, or have the car idle that the needle tends to go up?

let me know guys.

thanks

erdoc48

Unfortunately, the fuel guage is probably the most inaccurate measuring device known, based on a float in the gas tank, so turns will affect the apparent fuel level in the tank. I think what is more accurate is the total number of miles (in your case km) that you get from a full tank- as long as it's consistent from tank to tank of fuel, I wouldn't worry. I generally get ~350 miles out of a tank at empty, and it works out to a consistent 24.5-26 mpg, not bad when you consider the car has a 3.2 L V6- it's not reasonable to think the car will get a consistent 30 mpg. If you notice a significant drop off in mileage per tank, then worry about something being wrong.

fsttyms1

the fuel gauge is the wors place to try to measure fuel economy. milage and the amount of fuel you put in are about the only decent way. i too average around 350 per tank(65%hwy 35 cty). it went up a lil after switching to synthetic at 100k. i wish i was using that all along.

Vicman17

That's why you should average per tank (or half-tank). Outside temperatures, parking inclined, cornering all affects the reading. One way to measure how much fuel is consumed is to run the car until the low fuel light comes on, fill it up and reset your trip meter then run it until the light comes on again. Keep track of your driving and driving styles. I always fill up after 5 days of work so I can pretty much sum up how much I need to fill it back up. So when my trip (trip A) indicator is around 230- 260 kms, I know I'm close to half-tank. A friend of mine (Honda mechanic) also said stop filling after the second "thump" and make sure that you actually do the 3 clicks of the gas cap before securing the door. He said one way to get bad readings from your fuel gauge is filling it up to the neck and having a loose gas cap.