Petrol Gauge

Liz · May 27, 2003, 06:51

Has anyone else noticed erratic readings from the Petrol Gauge. I try not to let mine get down too far if possible, but last week the light came on just about the empty marker and a few days later - yes I do alot of miles -didn't come on until in the middle of the empty marker. Just an observation wondered if anyone else had noticed this.

SimonC_Here · May 27, 2003, 10:24

I have noticed that it is a lore unto itself on how much petrol there is actually in the tank.
As to the light, mine normally comes on at about the same level, usually just after I have gone past the petrol station. s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Simon

Anonymous · May 27, 2003, 10:40

I put it down to the heat of the engine, and how mcuh teh feul will expand slitly when heated up.

I always seam to get a low reading first thing in the morning and then as the car gradualy heats up the fuel gauge gose slighly higher, Or it could just be me going mad s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

SteveJ · May 27, 2003, 11:06

Quote from: "Liz"Has anyone else noticed erratic readings from the Petrol Gauge. I try not to let mine get down too far if possible, but last week the light came on just about the empty marker and a few days later - yes I do alot of miles -didn't come on until in the middle of the empty marker. Just an observation wondered if anyone else had noticed this.

AFAIK, the fuel gauge is controlled by the engine and body ECU's, so if it is the same as my old Audi A3, the tank level sender is only polled once when the ignition is switched on. From this point on, the ECU deducts the fuel being used by the engine hence reducing the problem of the gauge moving as the fuel slops around in the tank. The warning light, however is controlled directly by the sender - hence the gauge and sender don't necessarily agree all the time. This is exacerbated by switching the ignition on whilst the car is on a slope.

If you cast your mind back to Northweald - did you notice the fuel gauge behaving very strangely for a few day's afterwards - this lends credibilty to my theory that the fuel gauge is 'predictive'.

Just my 2c worth.

SteveJ

Anonymous · May 27, 2003, 11:57

I just find mine shoots down all of a sudden, had the orange light come on once.... left the house with over 1/4 of a tank and after about 15 miles i was on just above the red and the light came on! i now fill up at about 250miles or just around 1/4 of a tank left.... try not to let the light come on.

markiii · May 27, 2003, 12:20

you should average approx 50 miles after the light comes on.

Liz · May 27, 2003, 20:33

Must admit that the other day the light came on for me on the road where the MGF got boxed in on Chelmsford meet - the nearest petrol station is about 10 miles from there and I was tired and carried on home, drove around in it for a bit the next day as well before I could get to the Optimax Station, I have an adversion to supermarket petrol now and so does the car. I could well agree that you could get 50 extra miles out of it which is quite reassuring, however, I never intend to find just how far how I can push it! I forgot about the gauge after North Weald - it was a bit erratic, but the car was a bit frisky so I didn't take too much notice.

Slacey · May 29, 2003, 08:32

Mine was really erratic, and I had the same problem of having 1/4 tank then 10 minutes later the guage would show empty, but over the last couple of months it seems to have sorted itself out, I don't get any dodgy readings at all now, and fill up after 300 - 320 miles without the light ever coming on.

Anonymous · June 1, 2003, 21:53

I find mine is very slow to move from full but it accelerates as it gets lower. 1/4 & lower is like race horse. Overall though it does return a very good mpg of roughly 29 to 36 (depending on driving style) s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 13:17

I checked this last week, I filled up and it took 90 miles for the gauge to read just below full! I usually get about 320 - 340 miles before I think I need to fill up again so about 330 - 350 on a tank of Optimax I reckon.

--H--

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 13:19

Quote from: "Hardcore"I checked this last week, I filled up and it took 90 miles for the gauge to read just below full! I usually get about 320 - 340 miles before I think I need to fill up again so about 330 - 350 on a tank of Optimax I reckon.

--H--

JESUS! you must drive down hill with the wind behind you all the time... or you drive like a girl?!?! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 13:23

I do a lot of motorway driving, I find Opti gioves better mileage than regular anyway.

Besides you can drive quickly without neccessarily killing fuel economy too much (excluding track days!). I spend most of the weekends bouncing aroung 6k rpm, I guess I must just be a lot smoother on the old controls than you huh? Don't worry, you'll learn how to be a skilled driver eventually.

s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

--H--

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 13:25

LOL! i do a mixture of motorway and town but i get nowhere near that... on the chelmsford meet i got near 300+ and that was mostly motorway.

Just a bugger as opti has just gone up (again) in MK s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 14:09

Petrol prices around here seem to fluctuate like crazy, up and down within a couple of weeks.

I get all my business mileage paid for by the company so I tend to make a lot of "business" trips over to Manchester (where the bird lives) on Fridays. Funny that huh?

Seriously though if your only getting 300 to a tank on a motorway trip there's probably a problem, especially as you have an '03 model with the extra ratio don't you? Has your engine completely run in yet, and have you had an oil change yet?

--H--

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 14:16

Its done 2600 miles and im opening her up now and again, but i usually still change gear at 3000rpm on a normal trip to work. I usually fill up at 250-270 miles and the needle is somewhere near 1/4 of a tank or near the red (no light on though) so it depends how much you push out of your tank... do you fill up when the light comes on?

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 14:34

When I fill up usually depends on what journey's I'm doing in the next few days but in my experience I'd expect about 350 from a tank. I've never really pushed it but I've heard that the light gives you at least 30 miles, but don't quote me on that if you ever run dry!

The dodgy gauge does make it difficult to estimate how many more miles you've got. I usually reset "ODO B" when I refill and the highest I've seen is around 360 on filling up, but that was almost all motorway IIRC.

Out of interest what RPM's do you cruise at? I.e. what RPM's are you at at say 70MPH? Just to comapre the ratio's of your 6'er to my 5'er.

--H--

Liz · June 2, 2003, 14:38

Quote from: "Hardcore"I checked this last week, I filled up and it took 90 miles for the gauge to read just below full! I usually get about 320 - 340 miles before I think I need to fill up again so about 330 - 350 on a tank of Optimax I reckon.

--H--

I agree with Craig on his comments on this - mine has done 90 miles by the time that I get to quarter of a tank, I normally go by 90 miles at a 1/4, 180 miles at 1/2 and 270 miles at 3/4 down and whatever it feels like after that, I normally get about 320-340 per tank, but as I do nearly 400 miles a week I have had plenty of time to study this!

Comer · June 2, 2003, 14:41

Good question H. My 5'er does 4000 rpm at 80mph (I think!). I'm interested to know whether the 6th gear results in a lower rpm. Just listening to the tone I've found myself depressing the clutch looking for a 6th and then going back to 5th s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 14:43

Yeah, the 5'er does: RPM = MPH x 50 typically (in 5th). I heard that the 6'er was another longer ratio, more or less, as the standard 5 is close enough.

Let's see!...

--H--

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 14:44

god i get no where near that! I always set ODB A when i fill up and just drive based on that which is usually as i said about 250ish... if it does not get any better, i will take it to Mr T to give it the once over, just to check everything is ok.

At 3000rpm on the motorway im doing 'about' 75ish i guess... i will check tonight on my way home. 6th gear only seems to drop the RPM by about 400 or so..., its not a massive difference, but then i think the mid-range is different to the 5 speed anyway, so i would guess that me driving in 6th is the same as you driving in 5th.

But i will check tonight. s:)

s:)

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 15:02

Around the same here 03-6 gearer. Yesterday cruising at 80-85mph was a touch over 3000 revs.

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 15:09

I suspect that the 6 are a bit closer than the 5 up to 5th but that 6th is a bit longer than our 5th, that would make sense I reckon.

--H--

Anonymous · June 2, 2003, 17:54

right, from what i remember on the way home, 60mph is 2500rpm, 70mph is just under 3000rpm and 80(ish, mr officer) is about 3300rpm s:D

s:D all in 6th gear.

SteveJ · June 2, 2003, 18:54

Quote from: "krisclarkuk"god i get no where near that! I always set ODB A when i fill up and just drive based on that which is usually as i said about 250ish... if it does not get any better, i will take it to Mr T to give it the once over, just to check everything is ok.

Don't worry about it Kris - I'm on my 2nd '2 and neither have managed to do more than 300 miles on a tank - 250 is more like what I get typically. Having run my current car on the dyno at Millway last weekend I can confirm it is NOT lacking in power or torque.

All I can assume is the people who are getting 320+ from a tank are driving like MX5 / MGF owners s:wink: :wink: s:wink: not like proper '2 owners s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

SteveJ

Liz · June 2, 2003, 21:11

All I can assume is the people who are getting 320+ from a tank are driving like MX5 / MGF owners s:wink: :wink: s:wink: not like proper '2 owners s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

SteveJ[/quote]

Hardly!!! But they have installed 4 new speed cameras on a 1.5 mile stretch of road on my way home and you have to be careful s:cry: :cry: s:cry: